The History of Geology Group

Using original material and first-hand evidence from the field, Duncan Hawley will outline the origin one of the most iconic geological Periods, suggesting why Sir Roderick Murchison chose to view this particular location in the Wye valley as the site where he ‘discovered’ the Silurian.

The first geological principles explaining petroleum finds were established in the early 1900s in exploration on land. Petroleum exploration progressed when technologies enabled these first principles to be applied to ‘hidden’ prospects (e.g. offshore).

Dr Chris Duffin will remind us that the avoidance of and protection against disease in the historical past, without the benefit of a modern understanding of pathogen transmission, physiology and public health, was an unreliable business. As a consequence the natural world was exploited for potential drugs and protective materials - amongst which are a surprising range of geological components.

Cambridge University has long been a seat for study and work that has advanced the knowledge and understanding of geology. The Sedgwick Museum has always played an important and role in documenting this work, not least through holding the archives of many of the geologists at the university since the times of Adam Sedgwick.

This online meeting is the re-scheduled Greenough map bicentenary event.

This lunchtime event, starting at 1pm, will comprise three 10-15 minute presentations about different aspects of William Buckland’s involvement in supporting the idea that a massive ice “nappe” had covered much of the northern hemisphere, postulated to the Geological Society by Louis Agassiz in1840.