| Description | C.G. Thorp, a doctor of medicine, is visiting from Australia for some postgraduate work in England. He is interested in australites, glass found only in Australia, which he thinks are caused by bubbles from East Indian volcanoes blown by trade winds in the upper atmosphere. At fifteen miles up, they woudl be drawn out like Prince Rupert's drops, bursting when they reach lower levels. Professor Kerr Grant of Adelaide has written a paper questioning whether glass bubbles could be strong enough and light enough to descend and reach Australia, thinking instead that they may of meteoritic origin. Garnett wonders if Larmor could recommend a Trinity man looking for a dissertation subject who might speak with Thorp. In a postscript, Garnett states that Thorp knows that there is a considerable bibliography on this topic, but it has yet to receive an adequate mathematical treatment. |