Geology in the Nineteenth Century
Geology in the Nineteenth Century

Author: Mott T. Greene

Publisher: Cornell University Press

Published: 2017-01-15

Total Pages: 325

ISBN-13: 1501704745

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In this clear and comprehensive introduction to developments in geological theory during the nineteenth century, Mott T. Greene asserts that the standard accounts of nineteenth-century geology, which dwell on the work of Anglo-American scientists, have obscured the important contributions of Continental geologists; he balances this traditional emphasis with a close study of the innovations of the French, German, Austro-Hungarian, and Swiss geologists whose comprehensive theory of earth history actually dominated geological thought of the time. Greene's account of the Continental scientists places the history of geology in a new light: it demonstrates that scientific interest in the late nineteenth century shifted from uniform and steady processes to periodic and cyclic events—rather than the other way around, as the Anglo-American view has represented it. He also puts continental drift theory in its context, showing that it was not a revolutionary idea but one that emerged naturally from the Continental geologists' foremost subject of study-the origin of mountains, oceans, and continents. A careful inquiry into the nature of geology as a field poised between natural history and physical science, Geology in the Nineteenth Century will interest students and scholars of geology, geophysics, and geography as well as intellectual historians and historians of science.

Revival: The Structure of Asia (1929)
Revival: The Structure of Asia (1929)

Author: John Walter Gregory

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-12-20

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 1351341944

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The greatest single advance in the interpretation of the structure of Asia was the publication in 1901 of the third volume of The Face of the Earth by Edward Suess of Viennna; and the time has now come when his explanations should be reconsidered in the light of the new evidence. The British Association meeting in Glasgow in September, 1928 afforded a suitable opportunity. An international discussion was held then, and the papers contributed to it have been collected in this volume. Most of the chapters discuss previously published evidence; but that plan was unsuitable for the Persian Arc, for so much new information had been collected by the geologists of the Anglo-Persian Oil Co., that until it were made public any discussion of that area would have been futile.

The Earth Sciences
The Earth Sciences

Author: Roy Porter

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-24

Total Pages: 237

ISBN-13: 100068248X

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Originally published in 1983, The Earth Sciences: An Annotated Bibliography is a compact and thematically organized guide that provides comprehensive access to themes and areas of study in the earth sciences. The bibliography is not exhaustive but provides a detailed and critical index to the most important literature in the field. The book’s core focus is geology and examines the subject broadly, covering everything from glaciology, geomorphology, natural history and palaeontology, to oceanography, mapping, stratigraphy and evolution. The book provides detailed essays for each bibliographical chapter on the state of each field of research and the literature compiled for each bibliography will go as far back as around 1700 and contains a wide range of sources from across the world. This book will be of interest to academics and students of natural history, geology, and environmental sciences alike.

The Highlands Controversy
The Highlands Controversy

Author: David R. Oldroyd

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1990-08-08

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780226626345

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The Highlands Controversy is a rich and perceptive account of the third and last major dispute in nineteenth-century geology stemming from the work of Sir Roderick Murchison. The earlier Devonian and Cambrian-Silurian controversies centered on whether the strata of Devon and Wales should be classified by lithological or paleontological criteria, but the Highlands dispute arose from the difficulties the Scottish Highlands presented to geologists who were just learning to decipher the very complex processes of mountain building and metamorphism. David Oldroyd follows this controversy into the last years of the nineteenth century, as geology was transformed by increasing professionalization and by the development of new field and laboratory techniques. In telling this story, Oldroyd's aim is to analyze how scientific knowledge is constructed within a competitive scientific community—how theory, empirical findings, and social factors interact in the formation of knowledge. Oldroyd uses archival material and his own extensive reconstruction of the nineteenth-century fieldwork in a case study showing how detailed maps and sections made it possible to understand the exceptionally complex geological structure of the Highlands An invaluable addition to the history of geology, The Highlands Controversy also makes important contributions to our understanding of the social and conceptual processes of scientific work, especially in times of heated dispute.