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"Whatever we well understand we express clearly, and words flow with ease."
- Nicholas Boileau
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ZIN Product Number: 10004250
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| | | |  | | | Product Details
 Format: Hardcover, 329 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 0060193611
Release Date: Jan 4, 2003
Average Reader Review:    (Based on 4 reviews.)
| |  | | | In Brief
Winchester tells how canal digger William Smith noticed the layers in the soil he was digging, and different fossils in each layer, and eventually created the first geological map, of England, Wales, and part of Scotland, in 1815. He also explains how the map and the concepts behind it changed the western view of history and the earth. He includes a glossary without pronunciation guides. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
| | | | From The Publisher
From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world's first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology.
In 1793 William Smith, a canal digger, made a startling discovery that was to turn the fledgling science of the history of the earth — and a central plank of established Christian religion — on its head. He noticed that the rocks he was excavating were arranged in layers; more important, he could see quite clearly that the fossils found in one layer were very different from those found in another. And out of that realization came an epiphany: that by following the fossils, one could trace layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell — clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world. Determined to publish his profoundly important discovery by creating a map that would display the hidden underside of England, he spent twenty years traveling the length and breadth of the kingdom by stagecoach and on foot, studying rock outcrops and fossils, piecing together the image of this unseen universe.
In 1815 he published his epochal and remarkably beautiful hand-painted map, more than eight feet tall and six feet wide. But four years after its triumphant publication, and with his young wife going steadily mad to the point of nymphomania, Smith ended up in debtors' prison, a victim of plagiarism, swindled out of his recognition and his profits. He left London for the north of England and remained homeless for ten long years as he searched for work. It wasn't until 1831, when hisemployer, a sympathetic nobleman, brought him into contact with the Geological Society of London — which had earlier denied him a fellowship — that at last this quiet genius was showered with the honors long overdue him. He was summoned south to receive the society's highest award, and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension.
The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world's coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith's first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.
| | | | Annotation
The world's coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith's first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.
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 | | | | | Number of Reviews: 4 Average Rating:
Wonderful story, but padded to book length
-- A reviewer, a geologist, December 13, 2001
Even a Layman Will Enjoy This Book
-- Christy Tillery French, author of 'Chasing Horses', December 28, 2001
Exquisite Intellectual, Scientific and Social History!
-- Donald Mitchell, a management consultant from Boston, August 6, 2001
A great story, badly told.
-- Martin, a lover of books, January 22, 2002
| |  | | | | List of Illustrations | | | Prologue | | | 1 | Escape on the Northbound Stage | 1 | | 2 | A Land Awakening from Sleep | 11 | | 3 | The Mystery of the Chedworth Bun | 27 | | 4 | The Duke and the Baronet's Widow | 42 | | 5 | A Light in the Underworld | 59 | | 6 | The Slicing of Somerset | 79 | | 7 | The View from York Minster | 92 | | 8 | Notes from the Swan | 106 | | 9 | The Dictator in the Drawing Room | 121 | | 10 | The Great Map Conceived | 139 | | 11 | A Jurassic Interlude | 163 | | 12 | The Map That Changed in World | 192 | | 13 | An Ungentlemanly Act | 222 | | 14 | The Sale of the Century | 239 | | 15 | The Wrath of Leviathan | 251 | | 16 | The Lost and Found Man | 265 | | 17 | All Honor to the Doctor | 281 | | Epilogue | 291 | | Glossary of Geological and Other Unfamiliar Terms Found in This Book | 303 | | Sources and Recommended Reading | 311 | | Acknowledgments | 317 | | Index | 321 |
| |  | | | Find similiar books in these subject areas:
All Topics > Biographies & Memoirs > Professionals & Academics > Scientists
All Topics > Science > Earth Sciences > Geology
All Topics > Science > History & Philosophy > History of Science
All Topics > History > Europe > England > General
| | | | These specific items are very similiar:
Unknown Title
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology , by Simon Winchester
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology , by Simon Winchester
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology , by Simon Winchester
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| | | | | | Keywords
Smith, William,, 1769-1839, Geology, Stratigraphic, History, Geologists, Stratigraphic Geology, Science, Earth Sciences - Geology, Great Britain, Scientists - General, Biography & Autobiography, History, Great Britain, Geology, Stratigraphic, Geologists, Smith, William,
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