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William Smith

William Smith
Library of Congress

[b. Churchill, England, March 23, 1769, d. Northampton, England, August 28, 1839]

In a time of considerable canal building, Smith specialized in surveying canal routes. In the process he discovered that fossils can be used to recognize strata found many miles apart. He proposed the principle of superimposition, stating that lower strata are older than those above them. He published the first geological maps of Great Britain, starting in 1815.


 
 

(born March 23, 1769, Churchill, Oxfordshire, Eng. — died Aug. 28, 1839, Northampton, Northamptonshire) English engineer and geologist, known as the founder of the science of stratigraphy. The son of a blacksmith, he was largely self-educated. He produced the first geologic map of England and Wales (1815), setting the style for modern geologic maps, and subsequently a series of geologic maps of the English counties. He introduced many techniques still used, including the use of fossils for the dating of layers. Current geologic maps of England differ from his primarily in detail, and many of the colourful names he applied to the strata are also used today.

For more information on William Smith, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Smith, William,
1769–1839, English geologist. Through direct observation as a canal-site surveyor, Smith made a systematic study of the geological strata of England and identified the fossils peculiar to each layer. He thereby introduced the method of estimating, from the fossils present, the age of geological formations. His large (81/2 ft × 6 ft/2.6 m × 1.8 m) and accurate geological map, titled A Delineation of the Strata of England and Wales with Part of Scotland (1815), was one of the first of its kind and was followed by similar maps of English counties. Smith is widely known as the father of English stratigraphic geology and field paleontology.

Bibliography

See S. Winchester, The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology (2001).

 
Wikipedia: William Smith (geologist)
William Smith.
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William Smith.

William Smith (March 23 1769August 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
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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

Bust of William Smith, in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
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Bust of William Smith, in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.

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.

William Smith's Grave
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William Smith's Grave

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

  • A.Taylor, "A History of the Taylor Family", (1986), Privately Published.

External links

See also


 
 

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Copyrights:

Scientist. History of Science and Technology, edited by Bryan Bunch and Alexander Hellemans. Copyright © 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "William Smith (geologist)" Read more

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