Hail, Menlo Park

The U.S. Geological Survey's eminent research center in Menlo Park, California is celebrating 50 years of fruitful science. The San Francisco Chronicle's eminent science reporter David Perlman, for whom a medal has been named, surveyed the Survey's history in Monday's paper. It's a lovely piece of journalism about a scientific treasure. I served there myself for a few years, and an episode I remember well isn't in Perlman's article: the Mount St. Helens eruption.