Great Geological Controversies

Great Geological Controversies

Author: Anthony Hallam

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1983

Total Pages: 196

ISBN-13:

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Here is a new edition of a widely acclaimed account of the most celebrated controversies in the history of geology--a book that covers many of the most important ideas that have emerged since the birth of the science. Among the great debates described here are those involving catastrophe theory, uniformitarianism, the discovery of the Ice Age, speculation concerning the age of the earth, and the advent of new ideas on plate tectonics and continental drift. In presenting these key topics, the author opens the fascinating history of geology to a wide audience. Frequently citing original sources, the author gives readers a sense of the colorful and at times immensely entertaining language of scientific discourse. This edition includes a new chapter on the emergence of stratigraphy in the nineteenth century, focusing on controversies surrounding the Cambrian-Silurian and Devonian. Another new chapter reviews the mass extinction theory, which is still hotly debated. Other chapters have been revised to reflect recent developments and changes in the field. Authoritative and highly readable, this unique work will interest all readers interested in the history of science and especially the origin of the prevailing ideas in geology today.


Great Geological Controversies

Great Geological Controversies

Author: Anthony Hallam

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1989

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780198582182

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This second edition of the author's account of celebrated controversies in geology embraces many of the important ideas that have emerged since the birth of the subject. The two new chapters are on the emergence of stratigraphy in the 19th century and on the mass extinctions controversy.


Controversy in Victorian Geology

Controversy in Victorian Geology

Author: James A. Secord

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-07-14

Total Pages: 385

ISBN-13: 1400854660

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Secord gives a dazzlingly detailed account of this scientific trench warfare and its social consequences. One ends up with a marvellous feeling for the major taxonomic enterprises in Darwin's younger day: mapping, ordering, conquering 'taming the chaos" of the strata. All of these of course had social and imperial ramifications; and Secord mentions geology's moral appeal (in supporting a divinely-stratified Creation) to a beleaguered elite intent on subduing the lower orders. Originally published in 1986. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.


Rethinking the Fabric of Geology

Rethinking the Fabric of Geology

Author: Victor R. Baker

Publisher: Geological Society of America

Published: 2013-11-07

Total Pages: 200

ISBN-13: 081372502X

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"The 50 years since the publication of 'Fabric of Geology,' edited by C.C. Albritton Jr., have seen immense changes in both geology and philosophy of science. 'Rethinking the Fabric of Geology' explores a number of philosophical issues in geology, ranging from its nature as a historical science to implications for geological education"--Provided by publisher.


The Highlands Controversy

The Highlands Controversy

Author: David R. Oldroyd

Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Published: 1990-07-25

Total Pages: 470

ISBN-13: 9780226626352

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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.


A Brief History of Geology

A Brief History of Geology

Author: Kieran D. O'Hara

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-04-19

Total Pages: 275

ISBN-13: 1107176182

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Approximately 200 years of the history of the development of the study of geology.


The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood

The Rocks Don't Lie: A Geologist Investigates Noah's Flood

Author: David R. Montgomery

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Published: 2012-08-27

Total Pages: 305

ISBN-13: 0393083969

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How the mystery of the Bible's greatest story shaped geology: a MacArthur Fellow presents a surprising perspective on Noah's Flood. In Tibet, geologist David R. Montgomery heard a local story about a great flood that bore a striking similarity to Noah’s Flood. Intrigued, Montgomery began investigating the world’s flood stories and—drawing from historic works by theologians, natural philosophers, and scientists—discovered the counterintuitive role Noah’s Flood played in the development of both geology and creationism. Steno, the grandfather of geology, even invoked the Flood in laying geology’s founding principles based on his observations of northern Italian landscapes. Centuries later, the founders of modern creationism based their irrational view of a global flood on a perceptive critique of geology. With an explorer’s eye and a refreshing approach to both faith and science, Montgomery takes readers on a journey across landscapes and cultures. In the process we discover the illusive nature of truth, whether viewed through the lens of science or religion, and how it changed through history and continues changing, even today.


Controversies in Modern Geology

Controversies in Modern Geology

Author: Daniel W. Müller

Publisher:

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13:

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A collection of papers covering sedimentology, Earth history, tectonics and geophysics which reflects current research in these fields. The manner in which discoveries in the Earth sciences contribute to the advancement of knowledge in geological science is highlighted.


Controversy Catastrophism and Evolution

Controversy Catastrophism and Evolution

Author: Trevor Palmer

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 463

ISBN-13: 1461549019

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In Controversy, Trevor Palmer fully documents how traditional gradualistic views of biological and geographic evolution are giving way to a catastrophism that credits cataclysmic events, such as meteorite impacts, for the rapid bursts and abrupt transitions observed in the fossil record. According to the catastrophists, new species do not evolve gradually; they proliferate following sudden mass extinctions. Placing this major change of perspective within the context of a range of ancient debates, Palmer discusses such topics as the history of the solar system, present-day extraterrestrial threats to earth, hominid evolution, and the fossil record.