The Woman Who (Literally) Changed the World

In 1952, when Marie Tharp looked at the giant map on her wall, she knew she had just changed the world in a very significant way. The problem was, no one would believe her.

Let’s take a step back.

In the 1800’s when explorers discovered identical fossils of the same dinosaur spread across South America, Africa, and even India… they wondered: long ago, were all the continents positioned together? If so, what made them separate?

Their best guess? The “Earth Expansion Theory”. Here’s how scientists thought it worked: at the dawn of time, earth was much smaller and all the continents were connected. However, for reasons unknown, the earth gradually expanded in size and, in turn, pushed the continents apart. And voila, one of the early theories of “Continental Drift” was born.

(Image: People thought the earth was expanding. Image source: Wikipedia)

Enter Marie Tharp. Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1920, she gravitated to the sciences, and graduated from Michigan University with a Master’s degree in Geology in 1944. However when she became a junior geologist for an oil company in Oklahoma, they made her compile maps and arrange her male colleagues’ work trips… instead of allowing a woman to actually complete fieldwork.

Luckily for the rest of us, she decided to move on to better opportunities at Columbia University where she was one of the first women to work for the Lamont Geological Observatory. There, she asked the question which would reshape our world: “If we have maps of every land mass on earth, what would it be like to have complete maps of the ocean floor?”

The US government wondered the same thing. At the height of the Cold War, the threat of submarine warfare was ever present, and whichever country knew the ocean floors best would have the advantage. And so for the next 18 years, with the help government funding, Marie would take the bathymetric data (think: sonar measurements of the ocean floor) created by ships as they crisscrossed the Atlantic, and painstakingly aligned them to see what was underneath the water.

What she saw astonished her!

In the middle of the Atlantic ocean, there was a giant V shaped rift valley that ran all the way from Greenland to Antarctica. She found matching features in the Pacific and Indian Oceans as well. Could it be that instead of the earth expanding, the continents drifted on plates?

Her colleagues didn’t believe her… that is until she overlayed all the seismic data they had collected to reveal that epicenters of underwater earthquakes perfectly matched the rift valleys running the length of the entire planet. Thus, Plate Tectonics were confirmed, and the Earth Expansion Theory was out.

(Image: 1977 Ocean map by Tharp & Heezen. Source: Wikipedia)

And Marie Tharp was the woman who made it happen.

Regrettably, Marie did not get the credit. Instead, her skeptical colleague Bruce Heezen received all the praise for her work. However all that changed in 1997 when Marie was invited by the Library of Congress to be recognized as one of the greatest cartographers of the 20th century, and the “Marie Tharp Lamont Research Professor” position was soon created in her honor. At last, she finally received the recognition she deserved all along, and passed away in 2006 at the age of 86.

Pretty remarkable story, right? But what does this have to do with influence and success?

Image Courtesy of Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory and the estate of Marie Tharp

Marie singlehandedly changed the world because she didn’t assume. Scientists for over a century assumed the Earth Expansion Theory was right. The reason? They didn’t have tools to come up with any better ideas. And so, the theory persisted despite scientific advances. Even when she placed thousands of pieces of evidence before her colleagues, they couldn’t see the obvious because it went against what they assumed was true.

Have you ever had a moment where your assumptions got in the way of the obvious? More importantly, have you lost critical opportunities because you didn’t take time to ask deeper questions?

I know I have.

A few years ago I was on my way to have lunch with a potential client for my consulting work, but on that day I knew the timing was going to be tight. I had several other calls and projects I needed to wrap up, but thought our short window for lunch would be enough.

And so, when we sat down I didn’t take the time (that I usually would) to ask questions to really understand what was going on. Trying to be quick and efficient, I instead made the mistake of assuming I knew what they needed help on. The result? About half way through lunch, it was clear I had bungled it completely and this person was not interested in working with me. The connection wasn’t there, and I realized (and regretted) my rookie mistake.

I missed that opportunity because I didn’t take the time to explore and connect on a deeper level. I had overlooked their obvious need. Today, lesson learned, and even if it takes a few extra minutes to do right, I apply this specific tool whenever I help another person:

· How can I listen and ask questions to the degree where I can tell their problem back to them in the same way they see it?

Have you felt the difference between someone superficially connecting with you, compared to another person who truly took the time to understand your point of view to the point where they could reflect it back to you in full? How much more connected did you feel? More importantly, how much more influential was that second person in your eyes?

In a sea of people who superficially assume, putting in the effort to truly look beneath the surface will make you stand out. It’s hard work, takes extra time, and may require that you upgrade your skillset. But if Marie Tharp taught us anything, its that striving to see what’s REALLY going on underneath the surface can change the world.

• Christian

CHRISTIAN HANSEN has gone behind the scenes in some of the biggest organizations in the world to find out the reasons why some people get chosen and why others don’t. As the #1 bestselling and LinkedIn Top Ten ranked author of “The Influence Mindset: The Art & Science of Getting People to Choose You” Christian helps teams and organizations who want increase their earning potential by standing out from the crowd and influencing people to choose them. With degrees from Brigham Young University and The London School of Economics, he’s helped thousands of individuals position and sell themselves. A fan of international communication, history, and choral music, he currently lives in Utah with his wife. Reach him at: TheChristianHansen.com