Brief History of Geology

"Geology as a science has a fascinating and controversial history. Kieran D. O'Hara's book provides a brief and accessible account of the major events in the history of geology over the last 200 years--from early theories of Earth structure during the Reformation, through major controversies over the age of the Earth during the Industrial Revolution, to the more recent twentieth-century development of plate tectonic theory, and on to current ideas concerning the Anthropocene. Most chapters include a short feature box providing more technical and detailed elaborations on selected topics. The book also includes a history of the geology of the Moon, a topic not normally included in books on the history of geology. the author concludes that the history of geology fits very well with Thomas Kuhn's ideas put forward in his famous book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, and--for the first time--this book places the history of geology into a broader scientific context. The book will appeal to students of Earth science, researchers in geology who wish to learn more about the history of their subject, and general readers interested in the history of science."--Dust jacket. Approximately 200 years of the history of the development of the study of geology.