ABSTRACT The history of ideas on extensional tectonics is somewhat neglected in the general historiography of geology. This is because the occurrence of widespread extension on our planet was recognised late, although normal dip-slip faults are by far the most common of fault types and this had been noticed since the early days of mining. A review of the geological literature shows, however, that many geologists and miners did think of widespread extension on earth very early on. Their ideas did not have the same impact as ideas on shortening structures, because the latter are visually so much more spectacular in Europe, where the science of geology was born. Observations thus do govern the spread of ideas in the sciences, contrary to what many in the social disciplines claim.

中文翻译：

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关于通则的思想和一般构造的一些注释

摘要在地质学的一般史学中，关于扩张构造学的思想历史被忽略了。这是因为，虽然正常的倾滑断层是迄今为止最常见的断层类型，但自开采初期以来就已注意到，我们的星球上发生了广泛扩展。然而，对地质文献的回顾表明，许多地质学家和矿工很早就想到地球上的广泛扩展。他们的想法与缩短结构的想法没有相同的影响，因为缩短结构在视觉方面在地质学诞生的欧洲更加引人注目。因此，观察确实控制着科学中思想的传播，这与社会学科中的许多观点相反。