Why is geology called geology?

Answer 1

Geology is the study of Earth. Geology is called geology because geo means Earth, and logy means discourse. Nevertheless, geology is reasonably defined to be a science that pursues an understanding of the Earth. There are two broad areas of geology which include physical and historical. Physical geology discusses the material composing the Earth and it allows us to understand many processes. Historical geology examines the origin of the Earth and its development through time is based on experiments and observations.

WRONG - Geology is the study of the Earth as in "Geo" a Greek word meaning "The Earth" and "LOGOS" again a Greek word meaning "I STUDY" and is also the origin of the word "LOGIC."

Geology is broken down into several branches - Geology as a general subject and then we have GeoPhysics which studies the Physical properties of the Earth and includes Seismology again two Greek words "Seis for shakes and logos I study" - the study of Earthquakes, and also the structure of the Earth's interior. GeoChemistry studies the chemical properties of the rocks and minerals, Palaeontology - Paleontology in the USA is the study of old live forms and the evidence for the existence of life millions of years ago. Geochemists and geophysicists have reached consensus on the origin of the Earth and its age - approximately 4800000000 years ago. In scientific terms that is written as 4.8 x 108 years old.

Much of what is known about the Earth is based upon the premise of James Hutton - The present is the key to the past. Geologists who work in the field observe, record and eventually may carry out experiments to better understand what the processes they observe are and how they operate. Increasingly we are using computers to better understand these processes BUT we still have to observe in the field before, during and afterwards as a model is only an indication of what may happen under certain conditions - which may not be replicated by real time processes