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Notes on Discovery or Theory

372-287 BC

Theophrastus

Student of Plato and Aristotle and the next great teacher

Father of Taxonomy - first systematic listing of botany including plants brought back by followers of Alexander the Great

Proved the Atlantic Ocean flowed into the Mediterranean Sea

His ideas dominated science until the Scientific Revolution

1088

Meng Xi Bi Tan

(China)

Hypothesized that land was formed by erosion and sedimentation, then was uplifted above the ocean

Discovered that compasses do not point to true north

First modern theory of the solar system (Earth not the center)

1556

Georg Agricola

First systematic book on mining, smelting, wind energy, hydrodynamic power, ore extraction

Father of modern theories of astronomy, physics, and science

Laws of planetary motion

1620

Francis Bacon

Proposed a method of developing philosophy using inductive reasoning instead of deductive reasoning.

Facts must be behind any law and a philosopher must free his mind of false notions.

"a little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism; but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion"

Noticed how continents of Africa, South America, Antarctica, and Australia fit together like puzzle pieces.  see Plate Tectonics

1638-1686

Nicolas Steno

Anatomy - showed that contracting muscles changed shape but not volume by using geometry

1667 - determined "tongue stones" found in rocks were ancient shark teeth not that they fell from the sky or grew there.  He argued that compositional differences were altered by the the current idea of corpuscular theory of matter

1669 - Described how minerals could form inside of other rocks.  Steno's Law: for any kind of crystal the face angles will be the same.   Defined the principles of stratigraphy (how strata is formed).

Principles that made possible geologic time scales - rock layers are laid down in succession with older rocks under younger rocks. 

Used Biblical genealogies for the creation of the world

Used mathematics to prove that motion, one Earth or by planets, are governed by the same natural laws

Used Biblical genealogies, Middle Eastern, and Mediterranean histories for the creation of the world

Realized that the comet was a recurring object orbiting the sun, not an atmospheric phenomena

1707-1778

Carolus Linnaeus

Father of Taxonomy

We still use his system to name, rank, and classify plants animals and minerals

1746

Jean-Etienne Guettard

Wrote on the distribution of minerals and rock, noted erosion of mountains by rain, first to recognize former volcanoes.

1760

Georges-Louis Leclerc,

Comte de Buffon

75,000 year old Earth

Wrote an encyclopedia on all known natural history to date.

Noted regions have distinct plants and animals, that climate changes may have contributed to the spread.  First to conclude that species have improved or degenerated since creation.

By estimating the time it would take for a molten planet to cool

1744-1829

Jean-Baptiste Lamarck

Wrote a series of flora of France. Buffon had him appointed to the Paris National History Museum

He believed in unchanging species until he studied mollusks (he coined the word invertebrate).  The evidence made him realize that transmutations happed over time.

"Law of Use and Disuse" - function precedes form - adaptation

"Inheritance of Acquired Traits" but he believed a non-genetic trait could be passed on to children

1772

James Burnett,

Lord Monboddo

First to associate humans with primates: common ancestor

Developing tools, social structures, and language as an adaptive response to environment: adapt to survive

Understood selective breading

Believed Adam & Eve story as an allegory

1774

Abraham Werner

1774 - first modern book on descriptive mineralogy

Proposed the theory of Neptunism - rocks formed from crystallization of minerals in the early Earth's oceans.  Receding ocean levels exposed the land.  Currently only sedimentary rocks fit this description.

1774

Nicolas Desmarest

Recognize former volcanoes as a series of ancient events, rocks had changed due to weathering, the origin of valleys

1785

James Hutton

Earth is much older than 4004 BC

First modern geologist

Earth must be much older than 4004 BC because mountains erode and sediments turn to stone then rise up to become dry land

late 1700's

First geological time scale had 4 periods.  Primary, Secondary, Tertiary, Quaternary

1811

Georges Cuvier & Alexandre Brongniart

Earth is much older than 4004 BC

Cuvier discovered fossil elephant bones in Paris.  They proposed a theory of stratigraphic succession similar to William Smith's

1815

William Smith

Father of English Geology

As a coal miner, he observed that strata was found in the same relative positions and could be identified by the fossils it contained.

As a canal surveyor and map maker, he drew the first geologic map, showing the strata of England and Wales

1820-1850

A series of detailed maps of European strata and fossils formulated the geological periods we use today. 

1831

Charles Lyell

240 million year old Earth

By estimating the life of fossils of marine mollusks.

Advocate of Uniformitarianism instead of Catastrophism

First to divided Tertiary rocks into three Epochs

Close friend of Charles Darwin, helped to arrange the co-publication of the theory with Alfred Russel Wallace.

Never fully accepted natural selection as driving evolution because it was too slow

1785-1873

Adam Sedgwick

One of the first modern geologists.

Proposed the Devonian and Cambrian periods

Opposed evolution and the book by Chambers - he believed in a succession of Divine Creative acts throughout a long history - man is separate from animals

1844

Robert Chambers

Book - Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation

A working theory tying together many peoples' theories using "natural laws" (some true some not) instead of miracles.  Lamarck had been publicly discredited for belief in non-genetic traits being passed on to offspring.  So Chambers published the book anonymously.

Simple to complex changes (with Caucasian man as ultimate) but realized there is a "shifting as well as advance" (now called extinction)

Transmutation (now called evolution) everything current developed from earlier forms, planets, minerals, plants, animals, man

Believed God set up the process of Natural Laws but did not constantly fiddle with it. An omnipotent creator, who was always with the creation, would know it would succeed.

1809-1882

Charles Darwin

Geological student and friend of Adam Sedgwick

Observations while on the Beagle supported Uniformitarianism of Charles Lyell's

1837 - first - role of earthworms in the formation of soil

1938 - his first thoughts on natural selection theory

1839 - book Voyage of the Beagle

1858 - co-author with Alfred Wallace on the paper that describes natural selection

1859 - book On the Origin of Species

1823-1913

Alfred Russel Wallace

A naturalist who went in search of evidence to prove Robert Chambers' theories.

1853 - Realized geographical barriers separate closely related species.

1858 - co-author with Darwin on the paper that describes natural selection

1867-1878 - with Jenner Weir - theory that conspicuous coloration could be used as a warning to predators - Darwin preferred coloration as only for sexual selection

1889 - book defending natural selection

Early environmentalist and socialist

1896

Henri Becquerel

discovered radioactivity

By estimating the time it would take for a molten planet to cool using improved calculations

Cooling rate of a molten planet

by calculating the rate salt is delivered to oceans

1903

George Darwin & Joly

Realized that radioactivity allowed the Earth and Sun an internal heat source.

Geologist had argued for a much older Earth than 100 million years for generations.

Using radioactive decay of rocks and minerals.

1912

Alfred Wegener

German meteorologist

Revolutionary book, On the Origin of Continents and Oceans, proposed drifting continents where all the worlds land masses were once joined in a super-continent named Pangaea (meaning "all lands"). 

He also went against poplar belief in stating that lunar craters are the result of impacts not volcanism.

1920’s

Emile Argand

Swiss geologist

Believed the Himalayan Mountains range resulted from a collision between India and Asia

Using the Hubble constant of a uniformly expanding universe

Using the Hubble constant of a uniformly expanding universe but thought "recent" data made it older.

Estimated age of galactic clusters.

Canadian geologist - first to propose the theory of Hotspot volcanism

Added the third kind of plate movement, horizontal slip

instruments able to measure the movement of continents, volcanoes, glaciers

Photos of asteroids hitting the moon.

using Hubble constant for very distant stars

estimated age of the oldest white dwarfs thought to have been stars 1 billion years after the Big Bang

OneGeology progect.  First searchable data base for global geological features.  To have all the geological maps in one location, usable by all.