Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
in 1860, a young Italian scientist, Giovanni Capellini
(1833
non-government bodies that facilitated and promoted geo-
conservation. Also, while there are
rst Italian Chair of
Geology in the University of Bologna. As a mapping geol-
ogist, palaeontologist and archaeologist, Cappellini consid-
ered that academic progress and social bene
1922), was appointed to the
ve phases conceptually
and temporally different in terms of activities and outcomes,
there is some degree of temporal overlap. For instance, the
period of early discovery and the focus on fossils (Phase I)
extends into the period when systematic work was under-
taken to identify type sections, classic sites, and interna-
tionally signi
-
tofthe
“
new
geology
was highly dependent on international strati-
graphical and litho-technical correlation through exchange
of knowledge and experience, and on adequate standardi-
sation of language techniques and procedures of the new
discipline and related professional curricula. Cappellini is
credited with having
”
cant sites (Phase II).
The history of geoconservation in Britain from different
perspectives, such as the contributions of individuals and
community groups, or in terms of chronology, or the
developing relationship of the geosciences to environment
and planning, can be found in various contributions in Burek
and Prosser (
2008
).
rst expressed the idea of the Interna-
tional Geological Congress (IGC; in 1874), and was elected
Vice-President of
rst IGC held in Paris in 1878
(Ellenberger
1978
; Vai
2003
). For a more exhaustive list of
numerous contributors to the history of the geological sci-
ences from antiquity to the 18th or early 19th century, Zittell
(
1901
) cites a number of primary sources for the history of
geology including those undertaken by the English poly-
math, William Whewell (1794
the
3.1
Phase I (1700s
-
1800s)
1866), the Italian naturalist,
mineralogist, and geologist, Giovanni Battista Brocchi (or
Giambattista, 1772
This was an era of geological observation leading to scien-
ti
-
c enquiry that included exploring the principles of geol-
ogy, and the collection of fossils, minerals, and rocks.
Natural historians, such as John Ray, were developing plant
classi
-
1826),
the Scottish geologist, Sir
Charles Lyell (1797
1875), the German, Christian Kefer-
-
1866;
Geschichte und litteratur der geognosie;
ein versuch
) and the 8 volumes
stein (1784
-
cation systems, and geologists such as Lyell, Sedg-
wick, Murchison, and Hutton were developing theories of
natural geological evolution, and putting together
“
Histoire des progr
è
sdela
g
é
ologie de 1834
à
1859
”
“
by French geologist and palae-
snap-
ontologist,
É
tienne Jules Adolphe Desmier de Saint-Simon,
shots
in time of Earth history. Although there was no for-
mal concept of geoheritage or systematic geoconservation,
geoconservation emerged as a practice by individuals who
collaborated to organise geological audits, and to establish
various institutions where fossils, and mineral and rock
collections and a library could be housed and preserved.
During this phase, the world
”
Vicomte d
'
Archiac 1802
1868) and essays by Sir Archibald
-
Geikie (1835
1924). Adams (
1938
) and Laudan (
1987
) also
provide useful references and sources for the history of the
geological sciences.
-
rst Geological Society, the
Geological Society of London, was inaugurated (1807).
Soon after its foundation, this Society established a library
and began to accumulate a collection of minerals, rocks and
fossils which were later housed in the Natural Museum of
London in 1911. The
'
s
3
Milestones in the History
of Geoconservation in Britain
While there have been notable contributions to the geolog-
ical science from philosophers, polymaths, naturalists, cler-
ics, and geologists world-wide, from the time of the
Antiquities to the 19th Century, as detailed above, since the
20th Century, Britain in many respects has been the pioneer
in concepts and the application of inventory-based methods
dealing with Geoheritage and leading to Geoconservation.
As such, a case study in terms of the history of Geoheritage
and Geoconservation, and identifying the need to system-
atically conserve sites of geoheritage signi
rst recorded protected sites are those
that were of paleontological signi
cance
—
for example, the
Wadsley Fossil Forest in Shef
eld, South Yorkshire dis-
covered in 1872 (Prosser et al.
2006
), and Fossil Grove in
Glasgow in Scotland conserved in 1887 (Doyle et al.
1994
).
3.2
Phase II (Mid-1800s
-
1970s)
cance through
inventory-based geoconservation stands as a global model.
This history spans from the 1700s to the present and can be
divided into
This period marks the early development of inventories, with
the identi
cation of type sections, classic sites that illustrated
geological principles, and internationally signi
ve main phases that largely describe the evo-
lution of the thinking, processes and outcomes associated
with geoconservation from geoscienti
cant sites,
because British geologists recognised that many locations in
their country were signi
c perspectives and
actions. However, it must be stressed that a number of other
activities are embedded in this history. For example, there
were also legislative developments and government and
cant as reference sites, and scien-
ti
cally important sites. This phase progressed on two fronts:
in the recognition of type sections, and classic sites; and in
the recognition of regionally important sites such as the
