William Smith (March 23 1769 – August 28 1839) was an English
geologist, credited with creating the first nationwide geologic
map. He is known as the "Father of English Geology", however recognition was slow in
coming. At the time his map was first published he was overlooked by the scientific community; his relatively humble education
and family connections preventing him from mixing easily in learned society. Consequently his work was plagiarised, he was
financially ruined, and he spent time in debtors' prison. It was only much later in his
life that Smith received recognition for his accomplishments.
Early life
Smith was born in the village of Churchill, Oxfordshire, into a respectable
Farming family, and was related to the Leveller Col. Thomas Rainborough MP for Droitwich. Following the death of his father at an early age he was raised
by his uncle. In 1787, he found work as an assistant for Edward
Webb of Stow-on-the-Wold, Gloucestershire, a surveyor. He was quick to learn, and soon became proficient at the trade. In
1791, he travelled to Somerset to make a valuation survey of an
estate. He stayed there for the next eight years, working first for Webb and later for the Somersetshire Coal Canal Company.
Life's work
His house at Tucking Mill, Somerset
Smith worked at one of the estate's older mines, the Mearns Pit at High Littleton,
part of the Somerset coalfield. As he observed the rock layers, or strata, at the pit he realised that they were arranged in a predictable pattern, and that the various strata
could always be found in the same relative positions. Additionally, each particular stratum could be identified by the fossils it
contained, and the same succession of fossil groups from older to younger rocks could be found in many parts of England.
Furthermore, he noticed an easterly dip of the beds of rock- small near the surface (about three degrees) then bigger after the Triassic rocks. This gave Smith a
testable hypothesis, which he termed The Principle of Faunal Succession,
and he began his search to determine if the relationships between the strata and their characteristics were consistent throughout
the country. During subsequent travels, first as a surveyor (appointed by noted engineer
John Rennie) for the canal company until 1799 when
he was dismissed, and later, he was continually taking samples and mapping the locations of the various strata, and displaying
the vertical extent of the strata, and drawing cross-sections and tables of what he saw. This would earn him the name "Strata
Smith".
Publication and disappointment
In 1799 Smith produced the first large scale geologic map of the area around Bath, Somerset. Before, he only knew how to draw the vertical extent of the rocks, but not how to
display them horizontally. Except that one day he found out exactly how to do it. In the Somerset County Agricultural
Society, he found a map showing the types of soils and vegetation around Bath and their geographical extent. Most of all,
they were coloured. This way, he could draw a geological map from his observations showing the outcrops of the
rocks. He took a few rock types, each with its own colour. Then he estimated the boundaries of each of the outcrops of rock,
filled them in with colour and ended up with a crude geological map.
In 1801, he drew a rough sketch of what would become "The Map that Changed the World". Because he was unemployed, he could
travel across the length and breadth of the country, while meeting some eminent people such as Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester and the Duke of Bedford.
In 1815 he published the first geological map of England. It covered the whole of
England and Wales. Conventional symbols were used to mark canals, tunnels, tramways and roads, collieries, lead, copper and tin
mines, together with salt and alum works. The various geological types were indicated by different colours; the maps were hand
coloured. Nevertheless, the map is remarkably similar to modern geological maps of England.
In 1817 he drew a remarkable geological section from Snowdon to London. Unfortunately, his maps were soon plagiarised and sold for prices lower than he was asking. He went into debt and finally became
bankrupt.
On August 31 1819 Smith was released from King's Bench Prison in London, a debtor's prison. He returned to his home of fourteen years at 15 Buckingham Street to find a
bailiff at the door and his home and property seized. Smith then worked as an itinerant surveyor
for many years until one of his employers, Sir John Johnstone, recognised him and took steps to gain for him the respect he
deserved. Between 1824 and 1826 he lived and worked in Scarborough, and was responsible for the building of the Rotunda, a
geological museum devoted to the Yorkshire coast.
Later recognition
It was not until February 1831 that the Geological Society of London conferred on Smith the first Wollaston medal in recognition of his achievement. It was on this occasion that the President,
Adam Sedgwick, referred to Smith as "the Father of English Geology". Smith travelled to
Dublin with the British Association in 1835, and there totally unexpectedly received an honorary
Doctorate of Laws (LL.D.) from Trinity
College. In 1838 he was appointed as one of the commissioners to select building-stone for
the new Palace of Westminster. He died in Northampton, and is buried a few feet from the west tower of St Peter's Church, Marefair. The inscription on the grave is badly worn but the name "William Smith" can just be seen.
Legacy
- Geological Surveys around the world owe a debt to his work.
- A crater on Mars is named after him.
- The Geological Society of London presents an annual lecture in his honour.
References
- John L Morton, Strata (New Edition, 2004), Horsham: Brocken Spectre Publishing. ISBN 0-9546829-1-2
- Simon Winchester, The Map That
Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, (2001), New York: HarperCollins, ISBN
0-14-028039-1
- John Phillips, Memoirs of William Smith (1844, republished with
additional material by Hugh Torrens, 2003 ISBN 0-9544941-0-5).
- A.Taylor, "A History of the Taylor Family", (1986), Privately Published.
External links
See also
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