Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8.4 William Smith
(1769-1839) (from Horace B.
Woodward, The History of the
Geological Society of London
(London: Longman Green &
Co., 1908) facing p. 92).
Courtesy of the Geological
Society of London.
rough geological map of England and Wales. Eventually in 1815, he
produced his masterful geological map entitled A Delineation of the
Strata of England and Wales, with Parts of Scotland,whichwasprinted
at the large scale of five miles to an inch. This workwas one of themost
important geological publications ever produced. In 1819 he published
various cross-sections graphically illustrating the underlying and thus
three-dimensional geology of his 1815 map. Between 1819 and 1824
Smith also produced a series of geological maps of twenty-one English
counties including Cumberland, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and
Wiltshire, contained in seven folios that built up into a comprehensive
atlas. These were all published by John Cary of London.
Smith was not always appreciated by his peers, and he endured
great hardships during his lifetime. He was never a member of the
prestigious Geological Society that had been founded as a dinner club
in London in 1807. Perhaps this was because he was only amineral and
canal surveyor, a breed of professional, and as a result was looked
down upon by many in the gentlemanly classes that dominated the
