The Englefield mountain barometer was designed to calculate altitude and was so easy to use that a reading could be taken out of the window of a carriage provided the horses stood still. Using a bar of mercury, which fell in the lower air pressure of higher altitudes, the barometer gave readings accurate to one thousandth of an inch. By taking a mercury reading at two locations, the owner could work out the difference in altitude between them. In this companion book, first published in 1817, the maker of the new barometer, Thomas Jones, provides tables listing the heights of objects measuring...

This mineralogical study, published in 1853 by Darwin's German contemporary Wolfgang Sartorius von Waltershausen (1809 76) illustrates the author's dedication to interdisciplinary research and his desire for greater scientific rigour in geology. Seeking to understand the formation of palagonite, a mineral commonly found in rocks produced by submarine eruptions, Waltershausen realised he would also need to understand the precise composition of another class of minerals, the feldspars, on which Robert Bunsen, also at Gottingen, was working independently. Building on his earlier fieldwork,...

Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769 1859) was one of the most respected scientists of his day, influencing the work of Darwin. He is considered the founder of physical geography, climatology, ecology and oceanography. In 1829, the Russian government invited Humboldt to visit the gold and platinum mines in the Urals. As he studied the mountains' mineral wealth, he was the first to predict the presence of diamonds. During six months, his epic 10,000-mile expedition took him as far as the Altai Mountains and the Chinese frontier. Humboldt's observations on the geography, volcanic...

Prussian explorer Alexander von Humboldt (1769 1859) was one of the most respected scientists of his day, influencing the work of Darwin. He is considered the founder of physical geography, climatology, ecology and oceanography. In 1829, the Russian government invited Humboldt to visit the gold and platinum mines in the Urals. As he studied the mountains' mineral wealth, he was the first to predict the presence of diamonds. During six months, his epic 10,000-mile expedition took him as far as the Altai Mountains and the Chinese frontier. Humboldt's observations on the geography, volcanic...

Employed early on in his career by Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist John Lindley (1799 1865) went on to conduct important research on the orchid family and also recommended that Kew Gardens should become a national botanical institution. This pioneering three-volume work of palaeobotany, first published between 1831 and 1837, catalogues almost 300 species of fossil plants from the Pleistocene to the Carboniferous period. The geologist and palaeontologist William Hutton (1797 1860), with whom Lindley collaborated, was responsible for collecting the fossil specimens from which the 230 plates were...

Employed early on in his career by Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist John Lindley (1799 1865) went on to conduct important research on the orchid family and also recommended that Kew Gardens should become a national botanical institution. This pioneering three-volume work of palaeobotany, first published between 1831 and 1837, catalogues almost 300 species of fossil plants from the Pleistocene to the Carboniferous period. The geologist and palaeontologist William Hutton (1797 1860), with whom Lindley collaborated, was responsible for collecting the fossil specimens from which the 230 plates were...

Employed early on in his career by Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist John Lindley (1799 1865) went on to conduct important research on the orchid family and also recommended that Kew Gardens should become a national botanical institution. This pioneering three-volume work of palaeobotany, first published between 1831 and 1837, catalogues almost 300 species of fossil plants from the Pleistocene to the Carboniferous period. The geologist and palaeontologist William Hutton (1797 1860), with whom Lindley collaborated, was responsible for collecting the fossil specimens from which the 230 plates were...

Cotidal lines are lines on a map which connect points at which the same tidal level occurs simultaneously. Isaac Newton had explained the movement of the tides by the action of the moon and sun, and Daniel Bernoulli had used Newton's findings to create tide tables for specific locations, but William Whewell wanted to take research further by gathering and analysing information which would link cotidal points or lines across the world. Fellow and eventually Master of Trinity College, Cambridge, Whewell (1794-1866) published this work in 1833. In it he proposes various observations that would...

Barthelemy Faujas de Saint-Fond (1741 1819) abandoned the legal profession to pursue studies in natural history. Appointed a royal commissioner of mines in 1785, he also served as professor of geology at the natural history museum in Paris from 1793 until his death. His keen interest in rocks, minerals and fossils led to a number of important discoveries, among which was confirmation that basalt was a volcanic product. The present work appeared in three parts between 1803 and 1809. The second volume was divided into two. This first part discusses rocks, minerals and metals, notably limestone,...

First published in 1826, at a time when the earth sciences were in a state of confusion and controversy, this pioneering study of volcanic action by Charles Daubeny (1795 1867) was significant in promoting the scientific method and the science of geology, at the same time establishing the author's international reputation. Having studied medicine, Daubeny increasingly turned his attention to chemistry, volcanos and earthquakes. Elected a fellow of the Royal Society, he also sought to elevate the status of science in Britain. He presents evidence here, gathered from his travels across Europe,...