Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Having cast himself as a champion of common sense, honest empiri-
cism, and local knowledge, Drummond turned to his neighbors to furnish
evidence in support of his theory. In an article for the
Philosophical Magazine
published in 1842, he appealed to the superiority of local observers, who,
“from greater habitude . . . are better able to distinguish the shocks.”
23
He
called on Comrie's residents to “pay particular attention” to the winds ac-
companying shocks and challenged them to produce a single observation
that contradicted his theory: “As this was an indispensable condition of my
theory, to guide the people of Comrie in their observations, I stated that if
a great shock occurred when the lower regions of the air were clear, so as to
permit distant objects to be clearly seen, then I would give up my theory as
untenable. that was in 1842, and no year has passed, and no earthquake
has taken place, without my reminding some one of the challenge. It is
now more than thirty years since I gave the challenge, and during that long
period my theory has triumphantly stood the test.”
24
Drummond even ex-
tended this populist appeal to readers around the world. “I bid the reader
pay no attention to any theory whatever, but simply observe facts for him-
self. . . . All I ask from the people of earthquake countries is justice. I bid him
regard no theories, but simply observe facts for themselves.” Drummond
was willing to admit his amateur status, but he refused to defer to the “man
of science.” Instead he called on the expertise of the “practical electrician”:
“I have no doubt, when a practical electrician takes up the subject, he will
give far more information than I am able to give.”
25
this appeal was well
calculated: electrical engineers at the time cast themselves as the protectors
of British empiricism, against the “wild hypotheses” of mathematical physi-
cists.
26
Ambitious engineers like Cromwell Varley were trying to parlay their
knowledge of telegraph cables into expertise about geomagnetic, meteoro-
logical, and seismological phenomena.
27
Drummond likewise stressed the
practical benefits his explanation offered. while it might not permit the pre-
diction of earthquakes, proper observation of the atmosphere could make
known “positively when all danger is past.” Again, Drummond contrasted
his “practical” motivation with the theoretical contortions of the scientific
elite: “It was only a very strong sense of the great practical importance of
the facts to be gathered from a careful study of the varied phenomena of
earthquakes, that induced me to continue my labours in the midst of so
much opposition.”
28
After 1844, the BAAS ignored earthquakes altogether. Comrie was undis-
turbed by seismic phenomena for many years, and its villagers fell back into
their quiet way of life. In 1869, it looked as if a new swarm might be arriv-
ing. the BAAS revived the Earthquake Committee and began construction
