History of Geology Group
@hoggroup.bsky.social
The History of Geology Group is for anyone, any level of knowledge and anywhere across the globe who is interested in #HistGeo
We are affiliated to @geolsoc.bsky.social
Posts, reposts & replies are our own.
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/hogg
We are affiliated to @geolsoc.bsky.social
Posts, reposts & replies are our own.
https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/hogg
Her account was subjected to the habitual skepticism of G.B.Greenough in his 1834 Presidential address to @geolsoc.bsky.social, a critique of Lyell's mountains formed by gradations vs elevation via volcanic force from below. He dismissed her account as she was not a naval officer observer of repute.
November 19, 2025 at 11:03 PM
Her account was subjected to the habitual skepticism of G.B.Greenough in his 1834 Presidential address to @geolsoc.bsky.social, a critique of Lyell's mountains formed by gradations vs elevation via volcanic force from below. He dismissed her account as she was not a naval officer observer of repute.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Just spotted the typo: it was, in fact, on 18 November 1825 (not 1826) that De la Beche read his paper on the submerged forest at Charmouth.
18 November 1826: At a meeting of the Geological Society, Henry De la Beche describes the submerged forest at Charmouth shown to him by Mary Anning, crediting her with the discovery. She was well known at the Society and her name appears in the minutes from which the meeting reports were published.
November 18, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Just spotted the typo: it was, in fact, on 18 November 1825 (not 1826) that De la Beche read his paper on the submerged forest at Charmouth.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
French palaeontologist and historian of geology (and Cuvier expert) Philippe Taquet who died yesterday aged 85. I recall that he cut a fine dash in his embroidered tailcoat and medals at the Geological Society's Bicentenary Dinner in 2007.
November 17, 2025 at 9:38 PM
French palaeontologist and historian of geology (and Cuvier expert) Philippe Taquet who died yesterday aged 85. I recall that he cut a fine dash in his embroidered tailcoat and medals at the Geological Society's Bicentenary Dinner in 2007.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Hello again from Napoleon C, where a large crowd has gathered for the #HSS2025 distinguished lecture! Our speaker is Conevery Valencius, whose research draws connections b/w #histSTM, #EarthScience & #envhist.
Her talk tonight is entitled "Boom: What History of Science Needs to know About Shale."
Her talk tonight is entitled "Boom: What History of Science Needs to know About Shale."
two women are sitting next to each other and one is pointing at the camera
ALT: two women are sitting next to each other and one is pointing at the camera
media.tenor.com
November 15, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Hello again from Napoleon C, where a large crowd has gathered for the #HSS2025 distinguished lecture! Our speaker is Conevery Valencius, whose research draws connections b/w #histSTM, #EarthScience & #envhist.
Her talk tonight is entitled "Boom: What History of Science Needs to know About Shale."
Her talk tonight is entitled "Boom: What History of Science Needs to know About Shale."
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Great series of talks today at the Yorkshire Museum on Women in geology with @toriherridge.bsky.social kicking things off with a talk on Mary Anning and on networks of women geologists in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
November 15, 2025 at 6:13 PM
Great series of talks today at the Yorkshire Museum on Women in geology with @toriherridge.bsky.social kicking things off with a talk on Mary Anning and on networks of women geologists in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Another great talk today was on women in volcanology by @volcanologist.bsky.social who’s unearthing some wonderful, previously unrecognised contributions and observations by women travellers and others. Lots more to be learnt here such as who are the women in Tempest Anderson’s volcano photos?
November 15, 2025 at 6:46 PM
Another great talk today was on women in volcanology by @volcanologist.bsky.social who’s unearthing some wonderful, previously unrecognised contributions and observations by women travellers and others. Lots more to be learnt here such as who are the women in Tempest Anderson’s volcano photos?
Reposted by History of Geology Group
#FossilFriday In 1828, Mary Anning found the first pterosaur skeleton outside Germany. W. Buckland made the announcement of Mary’s discovery & named Pterodactylus macronyx in allusion to its large claws bit.ly/1sEqnhU #WomenInSTEM #MaryAnning
November 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
#FossilFriday In 1828, Mary Anning found the first pterosaur skeleton outside Germany. W. Buckland made the announcement of Mary’s discovery & named Pterodactylus macronyx in allusion to its large claws bit.ly/1sEqnhU #WomenInSTEM #MaryAnning
Reposted by History of Geology Group
9 November 1812: local newspaper reports the discovery of a fossil 'crocodile' 17 feet long at Lyme Regis. This was the recovery by Mary Anning of parts of the post-cranial skeleton related to a fossil skull found by her brother a year before. It was described and figured by Everard Home in 1814.
November 9, 2025 at 5:55 AM
9 November 1812: local newspaper reports the discovery of a fossil 'crocodile' 17 feet long at Lyme Regis. This was the recovery by Mary Anning of parts of the post-cranial skeleton related to a fossil skull found by her brother a year before. It was described and figured by Everard Home in 1814.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
A powerful bookplate.
November 6, 2025 at 3:55 PM
A powerful bookplate.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Have you seen the amazing Hutton Hat?
Handmade from Shetland Wool, showcasing three key Hutton Geosites - Edinburgh, Siccar Point, and Glen Tilt.
You can bag one of these in exchange for a donation to our crowdfunder - hurry, there are only 10 left!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/siccar-point
Handmade from Shetland Wool, showcasing three key Hutton Geosites - Edinburgh, Siccar Point, and Glen Tilt.
You can bag one of these in exchange for a donation to our crowdfunder - hurry, there are only 10 left!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/siccar-point
November 6, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Have you seen the amazing Hutton Hat?
Handmade from Shetland Wool, showcasing three key Hutton Geosites - Edinburgh, Siccar Point, and Glen Tilt.
You can bag one of these in exchange for a donation to our crowdfunder - hurry, there are only 10 left!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/siccar-point
Handmade from Shetland Wool, showcasing three key Hutton Geosites - Edinburgh, Siccar Point, and Glen Tilt.
You can bag one of these in exchange for a donation to our crowdfunder - hurry, there are only 10 left!
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/siccar-point
And here is an insightful analysis and contextual evaluation that gives meaningful interpretation to the poem and accompanying cartoon:
scholar.archive.org/work/ffqptqg...
Btw....can you spot the palaeontological ignorance of the illustrator and recognise the bowler-hatted/caped figure?
scholar.archive.org/work/ffqptqg...
Btw....can you spot the palaeontological ignorance of the illustrator and recognise the bowler-hatted/caped figure?
Some trilobite poetry for a lazy Sunday (of a rotten year, of a depressing decade). Courtesy of May Kendall, a satirist and radical sociological thinker, originally writing for Punch magazine
November 3, 2025 at 12:17 AM
And here is an insightful analysis and contextual evaluation that gives meaningful interpretation to the poem and accompanying cartoon:
scholar.archive.org/work/ffqptqg...
Btw....can you spot the palaeontological ignorance of the illustrator and recognise the bowler-hatted/caped figure?
scholar.archive.org/work/ffqptqg...
Btw....can you spot the palaeontological ignorance of the illustrator and recognise the bowler-hatted/caped figure?
Reposted by History of Geology Group
October 31, 1791, French adventurer Diedonné de Dolomieu writes a letter to Swiss mineralogist Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure requesting help in identifying a strange "grayish limestone"
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...
October 31, 2025 at 5:46 PM
October 31, 1791, French adventurer Diedonné de Dolomieu writes a letter to Swiss mineralogist Nicolas-Théodore de Saussure requesting help in identifying a strange "grayish limestone"
...
...
Reposted by History of Geology Group
October 29, 1882, birthday of Scottish mineralogist and petrologist Samuel James Shand.
At college his first interest was chemistry, to this he soon added an avid curiosity about geology, combing both in his study of igneous rocks and mineral assemblages
...
At college his first interest was chemistry, to this he soon added an avid curiosity about geology, combing both in his study of igneous rocks and mineral assemblages
...
October 29, 2025 at 7:40 PM
October 29, 1882, birthday of Scottish mineralogist and petrologist Samuel James Shand.
At college his first interest was chemistry, to this he soon added an avid curiosity about geology, combing both in his study of igneous rocks and mineral assemblages
...
At college his first interest was chemistry, to this he soon added an avid curiosity about geology, combing both in his study of igneous rocks and mineral assemblages
...
Ganly (1809–1899) worked for Richard Griffith at the Valuation Office, Dublin but was de facto a geological rather than land/valuation surveyor. The detail on later editions of Griffith's impressive Geological map of Ireland (1852, 1853 & 1855) was due to Ganly. It should be the Griffith/Ganly map!
October 30, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Ganly (1809–1899) worked for Richard Griffith at the Valuation Office, Dublin but was de facto a geological rather than land/valuation surveyor. The detail on later editions of Griffith's impressive Geological map of Ireland (1852, 1853 & 1855) was due to Ganly. It should be the Griffith/Ganly map!
Reposted by History of Geology Group
30 October 1846: a newspaper reported that a fund had been set up by the geologists at that year's @britsciassoc.bsky.social meeting in Southampton to raise money for ailing fossil dealer #MaryAnning, 'an old woman' (she was 47), following a fire at her home in Lyme Regis.
October 30, 2025 at 7:31 AM
30 October 1846: a newspaper reported that a fund had been set up by the geologists at that year's @britsciassoc.bsky.social meeting in Southampton to raise money for ailing fossil dealer #MaryAnning, 'an old woman' (she was 47), following a fire at her home in Lyme Regis.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
A couple of days ago, a HOGG member paid an homage visit to Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland. 'Shaky Toon', as it is known, is v. important in the history of seismology. It boasts the oldest seismological observatory in the world: 'The Earthquake House', built in 1874. 🧵1/2
October 24, 2025 at 8:28 PM
A couple of days ago, a HOGG member paid an homage visit to Comrie, Perthshire, Scotland. 'Shaky Toon', as it is known, is v. important in the history of seismology. It boasts the oldest seismological observatory in the world: 'The Earthquake House', built in 1874. 🧵1/2
Reposted by History of Geology Group
The exact date given by the Ussher-Lightfoot*-Chronology for the creation of Earth is October 23, 4004 B.C. in the early morning hours.
*John Lightfoot strongly influenced Ussher with his chronology published 6 years earlier
*John Lightfoot strongly influenced Ussher with his chronology published 6 years earlier
October 23, 2025 at 6:30 PM
The exact date given by the Ussher-Lightfoot*-Chronology for the creation of Earth is October 23, 4004 B.C. in the early morning hours.
*John Lightfoot strongly influenced Ussher with his chronology published 6 years earlier
*John Lightfoot strongly influenced Ussher with his chronology published 6 years earlier
Reposted by History of Geology Group
I'll be giving a Royal Institute of Philosophy Public Lecture at Lancaster next month.
"Polymath from Lancaster: The Life and Philosophy of William Whewell"
Wednesday 19th November 2025, 7pm–8pm
Storey Lecture Theatre, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TH
"Polymath from Lancaster: The Life and Philosophy of William Whewell"
Wednesday 19th November 2025, 7pm–8pm
Storey Lecture Theatre, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster, LA1 1TH
October 24, 2025 at 10:46 AM
HOGG will be at the GA FoG, discussing history of geology matters with friends & colleagues old & new, giving out our postcards & we'll have top-notch books for sale at bargain prices, & if we can squeeze into the crowd on the stairway we'll point out key things to see on the Smith & Greenough maps.
October 18, 2025 at 9:21 PM
HOGG will be at the GA FoG, discussing history of geology matters with friends & colleagues old & new, giving out our postcards & we'll have top-notch books for sale at bargain prices, & if we can squeeze into the crowd on the stairway we'll point out key things to see on the Smith & Greenough maps.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Reading William Whewell's 1832 review of Lyell's Principles of Geology, Vol 2, in which he coined "uniformitarianism", and I just love this passage summarizing what in many modern geological textbooks would describe as the principle of uniformitarianism.
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv...
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv...
October 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reading William Whewell's 1832 review of Lyell's Principles of Geology, Vol 2, in which he coined "uniformitarianism", and I just love this passage summarizing what in many modern geological textbooks would describe as the principle of uniformitarianism.
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv...
babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hv...
Interesting and well-crafted French animation film of Mary Anning - great for watching with children or grandchildren and for learning French! We wonder if this will be dubbed into English at some stage? We suspect that is a high probability.
🎬 #MaryAnning est un #film d’aventure, d’apprentissage et d’émancipation, un hommage à celles qui ont creusé avant tout le monde, sans reconnaissance, mais avec passion.
Mary Anning, l’empreinte d’une pionnière
Mary Anning est un film d’aventure, d’apprentissage et d’émancipation, un hommage à celles qui ont creusé avant tout le monde, sans reconnaissance, mais avec passion.
www.lesuricate.org
October 15, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Interesting and well-crafted French animation film of Mary Anning - great for watching with children or grandchildren and for learning French! We wonder if this will be dubbed into English at some stage? We suspect that is a high probability.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
#AdaLovelaceDay: that Ada's contemporary, Mary Anning, was much more than a fossil dealer is clear from her letters with her observations on coprolites, the orientation of Pentacrinites and their association with fossil wood, and her dissection of living marine molluscs to understand fossil sepia.
![Mary Anning's account of dissecting a modern animal: '... the second one I disected at Miss Philpots it first had a shell this shape [sketch] very like a smooth pectin only more concave, also a sack or ink bag exactly resembling the fossil one you borrowed from Miss Philpot...'](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vcl75pfg74dsskrzvynq5rez/bafkreigww5sjq3tbiyzq2ietdyusw2ifgkhnnolh7xktmja5ztkiscsw5a@jpeg)
October 14, 2025 at 11:15 AM
#AdaLovelaceDay: that Ada's contemporary, Mary Anning, was much more than a fossil dealer is clear from her letters with her observations on coprolites, the orientation of Pentacrinites and their association with fossil wood, and her dissection of living marine molluscs to understand fossil sepia.
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Prof Mike Searle’s comprehensive new geological map of the Himalayas is now complete and has been handed over to his long-time colleague Marc St-Onge at the Geological Survey of Canada for digitisation! Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project
October 7, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Prof Mike Searle’s comprehensive new geological map of the Himalayas is now complete and has been handed over to his long-time colleague Marc St-Onge at the Geological Survey of Canada for digitisation! Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting project
Reposted by History of Geology Group
Last night's Hutton event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh: Prof Colin Campbell on the Hutton 2026 Tercentenary; panel of Angus Miller (Edinburgh Geol Soc), Rachel Walcott (National Museums Scotland) & Colin Campbell (James Hutton Institute); a surprise appearance of a young Hutton; and our venue.
October 7, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Last night's Hutton event at Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh: Prof Colin Campbell on the Hutton 2026 Tercentenary; panel of Angus Miller (Edinburgh Geol Soc), Rachel Walcott (National Museums Scotland) & Colin Campbell (James Hutton Institute); a surprise appearance of a young Hutton; and our venue.