Personal essay on geological mapping

Abstract This is a short personal essay on geological field mapping, mostly ‘hard-rock’, with my views, prejudices and conclusions based upon 67 years in geology and 65 field seasons, variably in Western Ireland, Newfoundland, New York and New England, California, Turkey, Tibet, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa. I have also seen a lot of geology in most of the rest of the world with the exception of Antarctica, Siberia and most oceanic islands.