Description |
256 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps ; 38 cm |
Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (page 252) and index. |
Contents |
Foreword / Robert Macfarlane -- Introduction / Douglas Palmer -- Borders and the North. Fossils : London clay to Greensand; Apprentice / Peter Wigley -- Wales and Central England. Fossils : brickearth to clunch clay and shale; Mineral prospector / Peter Wigley; Field work / Dave Williams -- East Anglia and the South East. Fossils : Kelloways stone to fuller's earth rock; Cartographer / Tom Sharpe ; Fossil collector / Jill Darrell, Diana Clements -- The West. Fossils : blue marl to redland limestone. Well sinker / John Mather; Mentor / John Henry. |
Summary |
"The story starts with William Smith's early years, from apprentice to surveyor for hire, and from publication of his groundbreaking 1815 geological strata map to imprisonment for debt. Smith's 1799 geological map of Bath and table of strata, his first strata map of England and Wales, published in 1801, and photographs of some of Smith's collection of 2,000 fossils illustrate the tale. The remainder of the book is organized into four parts, each beginning with four sheets from Smith's hand-colored, 1815 strata map, accompanied by related geological cross sections and county maps (1819-24), and followed by sections of Sowerby's fossil illustrations (1816-19), organized by strata. Interleaved between the sections are essays by scholars that focus on the people and industries that benefited from the knowledge imparted by Smith's work. Concluding the volume are reflections on Smith's later years as an itinerant geologist and surveyor, plagiarism by a rival, receipt of the first Wollaston Medal in recognition of his achievements, and the influence of his geological mapping and biostratigraphical theories on the sciences, which culminated in the establishment of the modern geological timescale"-- Provided by publisher. |
Subject |
Smith, William, 1769-1839.
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Geologists -- England -- Biography.
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Geological mapping -- England -- History -- 19th century.
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Geology -- England -- Maps.
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Geology -- Wales -- Maps.
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Fossils -- Private collections -- England.
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Geology, Stratigraphic -- History.
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SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geology.
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Smith, William, 1769-1839. (OCoLC)fst00202927
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Geological mapping. (OCoLC)fst00940582
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Geologists. (OCoLC)fst00940615
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Geology. (OCoLC)fst00940627
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Geology, Stratigraphic. (OCoLC)fst00940727
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England. (OCoLC)fst01219920
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Wales. (OCoLC)fst01207649
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Chronological Term |
1800-1899
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Genre/Form |
Biographies. (OCoLC)fst01919896
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History. (OCoLC)fst01411628
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Maps. (OCoLC)fst01423704
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Added Author |
Palmer, Douglas, writer of introduction.
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Macfarlane, Robert, 1976- writer of foreword.
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Oxford University Museum of Natural History, editor.
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Added Title |
William Smith's geological maps |
ISBN |
9780226754888 (hardcover) |
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022675488X (hardcover) |
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