Category Archives: History

Publishing maps: a cautionary tale

Posted on March 4, 2013 by

Visitors to the building may notice an addition to the Lower Library – a display about the fortunes and misfortunes of one the UK’s most famous geologists never to be a Fellow, William Smith. Smith’s most celebrated achievement, the first … Continue reading →

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Sedimentary my dear Watson?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by

During the last month or so, I’ve been cataloguing the ‘Merriman Collection’ (ref: LDGSL/1088) from our archives.  The collection of 412 glass lantern slides, primarily dating from 1880s-1910s, was donated to the Society by Mrs Mary Merriman in 2002 after … Continue reading →

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Valentine, By a Palaeontologist

Posted on February 14, 2013 by

Edward Forbes (1815 – 1854), former President of the Society, was apparently a bit of a dabbler in poetry. His ‘Valentine, By a Palaeontologist’ was read at a GSL dinner on 14 February 1845, by which time Forbes had given … Continue reading →

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A tale of three meetings

Posted on December 13, 2012 by

The Geological Society’s meeting room has changed a lot in the last century. Until a refurb in the seventies, it looked very much how it had done for most of its life – raked rows of benches standing opposite each … Continue reading →

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Murchison’s Peacetime Map of Siluria

Posted on November 19, 2012 by

Sir Roderick Impey Murchison spent much of the early 1830s stomping round Wales and the West Midlands immersed in an oceanic world of metre-long sea scorpions. A world which later gave rise to both leeches and creatures with backbones.  Above the … Continue reading →

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Early Geological Social Networking

Posted on July 3, 2012 by

When I imagine the early geological map-makers, I think of men on grand tours, taking geological hammers to prise fragments of rock from exposed strata.  Late at night they’d examine their findings by candlelight, take notes and draw sketch maps, … Continue reading →

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The origins of plate tectonics

Posted on February 27, 2012 by

This week, we’ve been uploading clips from Richard Thomas’ film ‘Dan McKenzie and friends’, which looks at the early history of the theory of plate tectonics. It’s easy to forget that plate tectonics, an idea we’re all familiar with at … Continue reading →

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Communicating geology in the digital age

Posted on December 5, 2011 by

When the news broke on Friday that a new Icelandic eruption could be on the way, it didn’t take long for it to spread. This hasn’t always been the case. In its early years, the physics of geological communication was … Continue reading →

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The Ross Sea Ice Shelf and beyond

Posted on December 1, 2011 by

Extending east from Cape Crozier, the front of the Ross Ice Shelf is a 30 metre high vertical wall of ice. It’s a remarkable feature, especially when you realise that it’s fresh water, it’s floating, and about 90% of it … Continue reading →

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Scott’s hut on Cape Evans

Posted on November 24, 2011 by

So far, the geology on this trip has faced some stiff competion from history and penguins, but on tuesday it came into its own. We moved across McMurdo Sound overnight and into the fast ice on the west coast, ready … Continue reading →

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