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In the nineteenth century, geology emerged as a distinct academic discipline. It pointed the way towards the theory of evolution, as scientists including Gideon Mantell, Adam Sedgwick, Charles Lyell and Roderick Murchison began to use the evidence of minerals, rock formations and fossils to demonstrate that the Earth was older by millions of years than the conventional, Bible-based wisdom had supposed. They argued convincingly that the climate, flora and fauna of the distant past could be deduced from geological evidence. Volcanic activity, the formation of mountains, and the action of glaciers and rivers, tides and ocean currents also became better understood. This series includes landmark publications by pioneers of the modern earth sciences, who advanced the scientific understanding of our planet and the processes by which it is constantly re-shaped.

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149 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Earth Science

Page 4 of 8

A Catalogue of the Collection of Cambrian and Silurian Fossils Contained in the Geological Museum of the University of Cambridge
  • J. W. Salter, Adam Sedgwick, John Morris
  • Published online:
    05 April 2013
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1873
  • John William Salter (1820–1869) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his work as palaeontologist to the Geological Survey of Great Britain. This is a complete catalogue of the Cambrian and Silurian fossils in the Geological Museum at the University of Cambridge. Preceded by a detailed introductory section on the Palæozoic system, the catalogue is arranged by geological strata, covering the various groups of Cambrian and Silurian fossils. The entries include detailed illustrations, along with references to the location of each fossil in the collection, its name and details of its place of origin. Revised by staff of the University and published posthumously in 1873, the catalogue also contains a substantial preface by Adam Sedgwick, famous for his role in the development of modern geology,which provides fascinating insights into the geological advances of the Victorian era.

Life of Alexander von Humboldt
  • Compiled in Commemoration of the Centenary of his Birth
  • Volume 2
  • Julius Löwenberg, Robert Avé-Lallemant, Alfred Dove
  • Edited by Karl Bruhns
  • Translated by Jane Lassell, Caroline Lassell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1873
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a naturalist, explorer and philanthropist now well known for his multidisciplinary approach to science. First published in English in 1873, this two-volume biography was translated from the German edition of 1872, edited by Karl Bruhns, which had been compiled in commemoration of the centenary of Humboldt's birth. Incorporating numerous extracts of Humboldt's own warmly written letters and anecdotes from his many acquaintances, it charts his travels in South America, Asia and Europe. Volume 2 covers his later life, exploring his impecunious period in Paris at the École Polytechnique, where he shared rooms with the famous French chemist Gay-Lussac, and later, his close association with King Frederick William IV of Prussia. Ideal for students and researchers in the history of science, this is a minutely detailed and compelling insight into the life of the man behind the scientist.

Hours of Exercise in the Alps
  • John Tyndall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 October 2011
    First published in:
    1871
  • John Tyndall (1820–93) was a prominent physicist, particularly noted for his studies of thermal radiation and the atmosphere. He was a prolific writer and lecturer, who was able to bring experimental physics to a wide audience. While researching his 1860 work, The Glaciers of the Alps, he became a proficient climber, and this work, first published in 1871, combines climbing expeditions in Switzerland with comments on glaciation and geology. It was extremely popular, with a second edition in the same year, and German and American editions in 1872. He was one of a group of noted Alpinists of the period, making the first ascent of the Weisshorn in Switzerland and finally conquering the Matterhorn in 1868, three years after its first ascent. This account of Victorian climbing expeditions makes fascinating reading, and shows the length an experimental scientist was prepared to go in search of knowledge.

British Fossil Brachiopoda
  • Volume 6, Bibliography of the Brachiopoda
  • Thomas Davidson
  • Introduction by Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1886
  • British palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's university. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume work became the definitive reference text on the subject. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, the last of six, is a thorough bibliography of brachiopod research literature up to 1886.

The Forms of Water in Clouds and Rivers, Ice, and Glaciers
  • John Tyndall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1872
  • John Tyndall (1820–93) was an Irish physicist who became fascinated by mountaineering after a scientific expedition to Switzerland in 1856. He traversed the summit of the Matterhorn in 1868 and climbed Mount Blanc three times. Alongside this love of mountains was a scientific interest in glaciers and ice formations. Tyndall was also well-regarded for his ability to communicate with the public about science. Many of his books, such as this one, published in 1872 as part of the International Scientific Series, are aimed at the general reader. Tyndall uses this work to explain many aspects of water, beginning with cloud formation and rain before moving on to ice, snow and glaciers. He also discusses the principles behind phenomena ranging from tropical rains to glacial movement. Illustrated and organised into 493 different points under themed headings, this book gives clear explanations of the complexity of the earth's water system.

Seven Lectures on Meteorology
  • Luke Howard
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1837
  • Luke Howard (1772–1864) was a pharmacist and businessman, but is most famous for his contributions to meteorology. He classified clouds by their appearance and gave them their modern names of cumulus, cirrus, nimbus and stratus. He was educated at a Quaker school in Oxfordshire, then trained as a pharmacist, but was fascinated by weather throughout his life, and developed into a keen amateur meteorologist. He wrote several important texts on the subject including The Climate of London, an early study in urban climatology, and On the Modification of Clouds (both also reissued in this series). Published in 1837, Seven Lectures on Meteorology covers the components of the atmosphere, seasonal variation in winds and temperature, the use of barometers, cloud structure, and visual phenomena such as rainbows and the Aurora Borealis. This reissue also includes Howard's short 1842 book which details selected British weather data from 1824 to 1841.

The Minerals of New South Wales, etc.
  • Archibald Liversidge
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1888
  • Throughout the nineteenth century, Britain remained hungry for minerals to fuel her industrial and economic growth. Archibald Liversidge (1846–1927) found his knowledge and research to be in high demand. He had studied at the Royal College of Chemistry, and then obtained an exhibition to Cambridge, where he founded the Cambridge University Natural Sciences Club. At just twenty-seven years old Liversidge was appointed Reader in Geology at the University of Sydney, where he revolutionized the study of minerals and their potential applications. First published in 1876, and reprinted here from the enlarged, third edition of 1888, his chemical audit of the minerals of New South Wales became a key text for students of this field. Divided into two sections that address metallic and non-metallic minerals in turn, and incorporating a detailed map and substantial appendix, this work is of enduring interest and importance to geologists, chemists and historians of science.

The Glaciers of the Alps
  • Being a Narrative of Excursions and Ascents, an Account of the Origin and Phenomena of Glaciers and an Exposition of the Physical Principles to Which They Are Related
  • John Tyndall
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    15 October 2011
    First published in:
    1860
  • John Tyndall (1820–93) was an influential Irish geologist who became fascinated by mountaineering after a scientific expedition to Switzerland in 1856. He joined the Alpine Club in 1858 and achieved the summit of the Matterhorn in 1868 - a feat which led to a peak on the Italian side of the massif being named after him. He also climbed Mont Blanc three times. A writer of scientific texts who was widely praised for the quality of his prose, Tyndall made clear that in this work, published in 1860, he had 'not attempted to mix Narrative and Science'. He divides his account into two parts: his Alpine adventures and observations, and the scientific explanations about the origins and structural aspects of glaciers. Both sections include explanatory illustrations. This book, a classic text of Alpine exploration, offers a unique account of Tyndall's mountaineering expeditions and the science that inspired them.

Memoir of Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay
  • Archibald Geikie
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    15 December 2011
    First published in:
    1895
  • Sir Andrew Crombie Ramsay (1814–91) was a British geologist with a particular interest in the effects of glaciation on the landscape. He travelled in Europe and America, and was a keen climber. His first work, Geology of the Island of Arran (1840), also published in this series, attracted the attention of Roderick Murchison, who found him employment with the Geological Survey, and Ramsay later succeeded Murchison as its director. He carried out important fieldwork in Wales, taught at University College London and the Royal School of Mines, and published a successful textbook. Another major contribution was his work on the origin of lakes: his controversial 1862 proposal that glaciers could hollow out lake basins even in the absence of earth movements was eventually accepted. Ramsay's younger colleague at the Geological Survey, Sir Archibald Geikie (1835–1924), who also wrote a biography of Murchison, published this memoir in 1895.

Tutira
  • The Story of a New Zealand Sheep Station
  • H. Guthrie-Smith
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1921
  • In 1880, William Herbert Guthrie-Smith (1862–1940) emigrated from Scotland to New Zealand, where he learned the basics of sheep farming and acquired Tutira, a disused sheep station of 20,000 acres in the Hawke's Bay region of the North Island. Tutira, published in 1921, describes every aspect of Guthrie-Smith's enterprise, including the redevelopment of the land and comprehensive advice on sheep farming. The book also covers the history of the local Maori and of European settlement, and provides an extensive account of the farm's natural history including its geological configuration, meteorological patterns, the formation of lakes and waterways, and the native plant and bird species Guthrie-Smith discovered on his land. It also draws attention to the impact of introduced, 'alien' plants and animals. Tutira is one of the great classics of New World environmental consciousness; it was reprinted in 1926, and a posthumous revised edition appeared in 1953.

British Fossil Brachiopoda
  • Volume 4, Tertiary, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Permian, and Carboniferous Supplements; and Devonian and Silurian Brachiopoda that Occur in the Triassic Pebble Bed of Budleigh Salterton in Devonshire
  • Thomas Davidson
  • Introduction by Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1874
  • British palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's university. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume work became the definitive reference text on the subject. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, the fourth of six, is the first of two supplements providing corrections to earlier volumes and detailing species discovered since the original volumes were published.

Life of Alexander von Humboldt
  • Compiled in Commemoration of the Centenary of his Birth
  • Volume 1
  • Julius Löwenberg, Robert Avé-Lallemant, Alfred Dove
  • Edited by Karl Bruhns
  • Translated by Jane Lassell, Caroline Lassell
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 March 2012
    First published in:
    1873
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was a naturalist, explorer and philanthropist now well known for his multidisciplinary approach to science. First published in English in 1873, this two-volume biography was translated from the German edition of 1872, edited by Karl Bruhns, which had been compiled in commemoration of the centenary of Humboldt's birth. Incorporating numerous extracts of Humboldt's own warmly written letters and anecdotes from his many acquaintances, it charts his travels in South America, Asia and Europe. Volume 1 covers his early exploratory trips and some of his lesser-known exploits, including becoming Superintendent of Mines in Northern Bavaria, his research on the sixteenth-century eruption of Nevado del Altar in Ecuador and his friendship with the young Prince William of Prussia. Of interest to students and researchers in the history of science, this is a minutely detailed and compelling insight into the life of the man behind the scientist.

Essay on the Modifications of Clouds
  • Luke Howard
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1865
  • An industrial chemist by profession, Luke Howard (1772–1864) proposed the method of cloud classification that is still in use today. His life-long interest in meteorology led him to produce this landmark work in the history of the subject. General scientific opinion at the time was that clouds were too changeable to be classified, but, inspired by Linnaeus' work in biological classification, Howard proposed a method which used Latin terminology - cirrus, cumulus, stratus and nimbus - to provide a standard description for each of three groups of cloud types. His work was first published in the Philosophical Magazine in 1803; it was produced in book form in 1832 but went quickly out of print. This reissue is of the third printing (1865) of the edition brought out after his death in 1864 by two of his sons. Howard's other meteorological works are also reissued in this series.

Geology of Arran and Clydesdale
  • With an Account of the Flora and Marine Fauna of Arran
  • James Bryce
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1865
  • James Bryce (1806–77) was a Scottish schoolteacher and geologist. His numerous articles on geology earned him a place in the Geological Society of London (1834) and in the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1875). He also campaigned to reform the Scottish universities and for Scottish education to be independent of the English system. In 1855 Bryce conducted a geological survey of Clydesdale and the Isle of Arran for the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS). His findings were published the same year, in this book. Bryce's study records the natural history of the two regions, with descriptions of the geological features encountered on various expeditions in Arran. Bryce also describes the Arran flora, marine fauna, and rare insect life. This book remained the geological authority on Arran and Clydesdale for a long time; the third edition, reissued here, was published in 1865.

British Fossil Brachiopoda
  • Volume 1, Tertiary, Cretaceous, Oolitic, and Liasic Species
  • Thomas Davidson
  • Introduction by Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    29 December 2011
    First published in:
    1851
  • British palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's university. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume work became the definitive reference text on the subject. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, the first of six, includes an essay on the terebratulids by Richard Owen, an analysis of brachiopod shell structure by W. B. Carpenter and a guide to classification by Davidson himself. The rest of the volume describes Cretaceous, Tertiary, Oolitic and Liasic brachiopod species.

A History of British Fossil Mammals, and Birds
  • Richard Owen
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    21 October 2011
    First published in:
    1846
  • Richard Owen (1804–92) was a controversial and influential palaeontologist and anatomist. During his medical studies in Edinburgh and London, he grew interested in anatomical research and, after qualifying as a surgeon, became assistant conservator in the museum of the Royal College of Surgeons, and then superintendent of natural history in the British Museum. He became an authority on comparative anatomy and palaeontology, coining the term 'dinosaur' and founding the Natural History Museum. He was also a critic of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, and engaged in a long and bitter argument with Thomas Huxley, known as 'Darwin's bulldog' for his belligerent support of the theory. Published in 1846, this is Owen's comparative anatomical analysis of the fossils of British birds and mammals. It compares living species with extinct ones, and explains the characteristics that help identification, using 237 woodcut illustrations to show the traits of different species.

British Fossil Brachiopoda
  • Volume 2, Permian and Carboniferous Species
  • Thomas Davidson
  • Introduction by Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1858
  • British palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's university. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume work became the definitive reference text on the subject. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, the second of six, details the Permian and Carboniferous brachiopod species.

Travels through the Alps of Savoy and Other Parts of the Pennine Chain
  • With Observations on the Phenomena of Glaciers
  • James David Forbes
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    22 December 2011
    First published in:
    1843
  • The renowned geologist James D. Forbes (1809–68) presents an account of his systematic exploration of alpine mountain regions and glaciers in this important 1843 publication. Forbes' graphic descriptions of alpine scenery and his mountaineering feats are combined with detailed records of his scientific research and experiments. The study cemented Forbes' reputation in the field, which was later to be commemorated by the naming of the Aiguille Forbes in the Alps and of Mount Forbes in both Canada and New Zealand. The aim in writing the book, says Forbes, was to 'illustrate the physical geography of a particular district in one of the most frequented regions of the Alps'. In doing this, he draws upon the important work of the 'bold mountaineer' Horace Bénédict de Saussure, whose feats and achievements Forbes clearly admired. The book is still viewed today as one of the most influential and important publications on mountaineering.

British Fossil Brachiopoda
  • Volume 3, Devonian and Silurian Species
  • Thomas Davidson
  • Introduction by Richard Owen, William Benjamin Carpenter
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    24 November 2011
    First published in:
    1864
  • British palaeontologist Thomas Davidson (1817–85) was born in Edinburgh and began his studies at the city's university. Encouraged by German palaeontologist Leopold von Buch, he began to study brachiopod fossils at the age of twenty, and he quickly became the undisputed authority. He was elected fellow of the Geological Society of London in 1852, receiving the Wollaston medal in 1865. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1857. Published between 1850 and 1886, this six-volume work became the definitive reference text on the subject. It includes more than two hundred hand-drawn plates and a comprehensive bibliography. This volume, the third of six, details the Devonian and Silurian brachiopod species, and features an essay by Roderick Impey Murchison on the classification of Silurian rocks.

Views of Nature
  • Or Contemplations on the Sublime Phenomena of Creation
  • Alexander von Humboldt
  • Translated by Elise C. Otté, Henry George Bohn
  • Published online:
    05 May 2012
    Print publication:
    08 December 2011
    First published in:
    1850
  • Alexander von Humboldt (1769–1859) was an intellectual giant: an explorer who helped lay the foundations of biogeography, a naturalist who influenced Charles Darwin, and a botanist who developed a model of the Earth's climate zones. He travelled extensively in Europe, carried out scientific explorations across the Russian Empire and in Latin America, and devoted much energy to seeking a unified view of the different branches of scientific knowledge. Ansichten der Natur, published in 1808 with a second edition in 1826, aimed to 'engage the imagination' as well as to communicate new ideas, and was translated into many European languages. This authorised translation of the third and final 1849 edition, dating from Humboldt's eightieth year, was published in 1850, though another English translation (by Mrs Sabine) had appeared the previous year. The wide coverage, including geology, geography and biology, is typical of Humboldt, as is the precise and engaging style.

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