Speleology meteorology and cartography to develop portraits of caves as complex, evolving systems. Prior to the mid-nineteenth century the scientific value of caves was considered only in its contribution to other branches of science, and cave studies were considered part of the larger disciplines of geography, geology or archaeology. Very little cave-specific study was undertaken prior to the work of Édouard-Alfred Martel (1859–1938), the 'father of modern speleology', who through his extensive and well-publicised cave explorations introduced in France the concept of speleology as a distinct area of study. In 1895 Martel founded the Société de Spéléologie, the first organization devoted
Weird or What? Weird or What? Weird or What? is a series on the Discovery Channel and History (Canada) hosted by William Shatner (except for the U.S. Version of Season 1, where his segments were replaced by a fourth story). Each episode contains three separate stories of the bizarre and unexplained. As the show unfolds, it weighs various supernatural and scientific theories that attempt to explain the story, and sometimes features tests conducted as proof of a theory's plausibility. The show features phenomena such as ghosts, aliens, monsters, medical oddities and natural disasters. The U.S. version of season 1 of the show features