The Map That Changed the World (Magill’s Literary Annual 1991-2005)
At a glance:
- Author: Simon Winchester
- First Published: 2001
- Type of Work: Biography
- Time of Work: 1769-1838
- Setting: Great Britain
- Principal Characters: William Smith, Sir Joseph Banks, John Cary, George Bellas Greenough, Mary Ann Smith
- Genres: Nonfiction, Biography
- Subjects: Nineteenth century, Science or scientists, England or English people, Eighteenth century, Great Britain, Wales or Welsh people, Geology or geologists, Maps
- Locales: Great Britain
Whether William Smith was the founder of modern geology, as Simon Winchester claims, or is more deserving of the more narrow, but still impressive, title of the founder of stratigraphical geology given him by an earlier biographer, is for the experts in the history of geology to debate. What is unquestionable is that he was one of the pivotal figures in the history of geology. Smith’s life illuminates not only the history of geology but also the social history of British science. Both the nature of geology and the social status of scientists were changing in Britain at the end of the...
[The entire page is 1706 words long]
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