ABSTRACT On 26 November 1920, a massive explosion at an electrochemical plant in Vergiate, northern Italy, generated strong acoustic and seismic waves that were recorded across a wide area. This event became a case study for early investigations into wave propagation, led by geophysicist Emilio Oddone, who documented both observational reports and seismographic data. In this study, we revisit Oddone's original analysis in light of modern atmospheric and geophysical knowledge, comparing early 20th-century interpretations of sound propagation with contemporary models incorporating the role of atmospheric stratification, such as the ozone layer and thermosphere. We also re-examine the seismic data collected by Oddone from six stations and provide the first quantitative estimate of the event's local magnitude, yielding M L = 3.45 ± 0.30. Our work recovers a historically significant case in geophysics and illustrates how scientific interpretations evolve with advances in theory and instrumentation.
ABSTRACT Britain has experienced many low magnitude earthquakes and over many centuries only twelve deaths may with certainty be ascribed to this cause. There is, however, a rich historical literature of people contextualising losses within religious frames of reference, not only following domestic earthquakes, but also seismic events and volcanic eruptions that have impacted overseas countries, especially those that were once British colonies. In this paper it is argued that clerical, scientific and lay attitudes towards the causes and consequences of geophysical disasters is historically complex and not explicable in terms of a simple dichotomy between secular and religious perspectives. Often disasters have been used instrumentally to advance a particular religious or political cause. Theodicy represents attempts by theologians, especially those within the Christian tradition, to reconcile notions of loving God with the occurrence of suffering in the world, and different models have been dominant at various times over the past eight hundred years of British musing. For many centuries a model of Divine retribution predominated, but change occurred from the time of the Enlightenment with a more varied picture emerging and with many commentators increasingly supporting a ‘best of all possible worlds model’: the Earth being the best home for humankind that could have been created, notwithstanding damaging environmental extremes. The twentieth century saw a ‘paradigm shift’ in theodicy with blame for losses shifting from God to human agency, responses in Britain and elsewhere being focused on mitigating losses and helping in recovery, with Divine punishment conceptualisations only remaining at the extreme margins of the Christian religious spectrum.
ABSTRACT This article takes up the early history of observing and representing Earth environments through the U.S. Landsat satellite program of the 1970s. Landsat was a keystone project in the emerging field of ‘earth resources’ monitoring, which turned the powerful technologies of the Space Race around to regard the planet itself as a site of both commercial exploitation and environmental protection. And yet, within this ‘earth resources’ framework, certain regions of Earth became more visible than others. One image that marked the success of this new Landsat vision was ‘Portrait U.S.A.’, a photo composite produced by NASA and National Geographic in 1976 and circulated in celebration of the American bicentennial. This triumphal public satellite mosaic demonstrated the satellite’s power to render natural and national resources visible, therefore subject to new forms of governing from above. In order to accommodate the disparate aims of Landsat’s many users, the framing of ‘earth resources’ was deliberately flexible, capacious enough to contain a wide and sometimes contradictory set of applications, and yet produced gaps and blind spots around which territories, ecosystems, and resources could be visualized at all.
ABSTRACT When Louis Agassiz proposed his glacial theory in 1840 to account for scratches and polish on bedrock, and to explain ridges and hills composed of drift in the Swiss Alps and in a continental setting far from the Alps, it was warmly embraced by Edward Hitchcock to explain similar features in Massachusetts. About the same time, American geologists became aware of large icebergs in the Atlantic Ocean that were capable, when grounded, of picking up and transporting large rocks frozen in their base. Formation of the Association of American Geologists in 1840 provided an effective and powerful forum for the discussion of drift. Dominated by eastern geologists, the Association focused their attention on icebergs and diluvial currents as the geologic agents responsible for the formation of drift and associated features. Edward Hitchcock's Presidential Address to the Association in 1841, in which he voiced strong support for Agassiz's glacial theory, soon drew the ire of many of the Association's members. When the Association's committees on drift in 1843 and 1844 rejected Agassiz's glacial theory “in toto” in favor of the iceberg theory, the die was cast. The Association's absolute rejection of the glacial theory spread to Hitchcock, who capitulated, denied any support of Agassiz, and joined the iceberg proponents. An American geologist who stuck with Agassiz's glacial theory was Ohioan Charles Whittlesey. In the 1840s while working in Ohio and the Northwest, Whittlesey actually improved on Agassiz's glacial theory and succeeded in abandoning icebergs and diluvial seas in the formation of drift. Whittlesey's pioneering studies received little support from eastern geologists, and Agassiz's Lake Superior report likewise drew little attention. What did get attention were John Newberry's reports on drift, beginning in 1862, that supported the iceberg theory favored by eastern geologists. Not until 1884 did Newberry retreat form the iceberg theory in favor of Whittlesey's modification of Agassiz's glacial theory. Newberry's sudden and dramatic turn-around brought closure to the iceberg theory in America, more than forty years after it had become embraced by the Association of American Geologists.
ABSTRACT In 1835, the chemist and geologist Johan Georg Forchhammer published a booklet on the ‘geognostic’ relationships in Denmark, the result of intensive search for mineral resources. Attached to the last page, a folded colored map presented the geological formations observable in Denmark, similar to maps already published in England and France. This first geognostic map of Denmark was the result of an original approach since, concerning the north-eastern half of the map, surface formations were not represented, but rather the underlying formations were depicted as they were hidden by superficial deposits. Indeed, in the absence of outcrops, Forchhammer actually put forward in 1820 the hypothesis that the Jurassic and Cretaceous formations had been deposited in a large basin in Northern Europe, bordered by ‘Primitive mountains’. As in England and France, the Jurassic and Cretaceous formations should therefore appear as extensive belts parallel to Primitive mountains. He attempted to validate his hypothesis by field campaigns which met with partial success and resulted in the present 1835 map and its accompanying memoir. This inferential mapping marked a turning point towards modern Danish geology.
ABSTRACT This article seeks to examine the crucial role played by the mobility of mineralogists and mining technicians from Germanic countries to southern Italy in the eighteenth century. The resulting circulation of specialised and technical knowledge linked to the Earth sciences was particularly significant during this historical time—the mid-eighteenth century—when mineralogy and geology were beginning to receive their academic recognition as autonomous disciplines. During the Age of Enlightenment, exchanges and transfer of knowledge were mainly made possible through the mining academies of Saxony and Hungary, both of which were research centres, pilot plants and major scientific communication hubs, which attracted, however, a rather mixed response in the Kingdom of Naples.
ABSTRACT This study explores the didactic transposition of geologic time in Portuguese science textbooks for high school education, from the early to mid-20th century. Through a thematic analysis of six selected textbooks, the research examines how key concepts, such as the definition of geological time, the age of the Earth, divisions of Earth's history, stratigraphic framework development, and the role of fossils as evidence of deep time, were presented. The study highlights the textbooks’ gradual refinement of Earth's stratigraphical framework and efforts to integrate scientific advancements. The analysis reveals an evolution from relying on relative dating methods, based on geological principles and fossil studies, to the integration of radiometric dating techniques for determining the stratigraphic and chronological sequence of the divisions of Earth's history. It also reflects limitations and uncertainties in the understanding and measurement of geologic time during the period. Globally, the analysis, framed within Chevallard's concept of didactic transposition, shows that textbooks retained much of the complexity of scholarly geological discourse while providing limited scaffolding for learners. The pedagogical strategies employed to communicate geologic time concepts were conservative and based on extensive texts illustrated with some figures. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the historical development of education about geologic time.
ABSTRACT In 1913 George Thurland Prior, Keeper of Minerals at the British Museum, undertook the analysis of two stony meteorites that had recently fallen in India and South Africa. This seemingly simple study eventually led to the establishment and expansion of an evolving system of meteorite classification as well as the explication of chemico-mineralogical relationships within the chondritic meteorites that influenced their study for the next half century. In devising his novel classification system, Prior also identified flaws present in the widely used Brezina system as well as the recently proposed chemical analytic-descriptive system of Farrington that had been derived from the Cross, Iddings, Pirsson and Washington (CIPW) classification of terrestrial igneous rocks. Prior's analysis of several chondritic meteorites demonstrated the presence of highly modal Mg:Fe ratios within olivines and pyroxenes. From those observations Prior concluded that all chondrites possessed remarkably similar silicate mineral compositions irrespective of variation in the abundance of nickel-iron. However, in subsequent studies Prior explored the full range of nickel-iron abundance exhibited within chondrites and found a consistent pattern of compositional variation such that in those stones with small amounts of nickel-iron the Ni:Fe ratio tended to be higher than in those stones richer in nickel-iron. Further, he recognized a relationship between the iron content of magnesium silicate minerals and the abundance of nickel-iron in chondrites such that stones poor in nickel-iron tended towards an enrichment of iron in the olivine and pyroxene phases. Together, these relationships came to be known as Prior's Laws and were the central organizing principle of his classifications. Prior went on to hypothesize that the compositional variability of the chondrites could be explained by a magma that underwent chemical evolution in the presence of increasing levels of oxygen such that the iron was progressively partitioned from the reduced nickel-iron to the oxidized silicate phases leaving the residual nickel-iron enriched in nickel. In 1920 Prior produced a revision to his first classification that was based upon compositional variation exhibited by the chondrites rather than what he took to be superficial macroscopic differences. All meteorites were divided into four compositional classes: the irons, stony-irons, chondrites, and non-chondritic stones, with each class further subdivided on the basis of a consistent set of chemico-mineralogical characteristics. The relative completeness and highly empirical foundation of Prior's second classification sets it apart from other contemporary schemes. The subsequent evolution of meteorite classification as well as the reception, review, and revisions to Prior's Laws are traced over the decades that followed the conclusion of Prior's career.
ABSTRACT This article explores the concept of hardy species as used in 19th-century British gardening publications to describe plants displaced from their natural environments yet capable of withstanding European winters, characterized by low temperatures and storms. It considers trees as sensing subjects that enabled people to connect with the climate at a time when its modern definition was emerging. In practical terms, it examines how historical printed sources—specifically gardening magazines—discussed species hardiness, offering a perspective on climate based on the art of acclimating species. The article follows the case of Araucaria araucana ( Araucaria imbricata in the 19th century, Pewen in Mapuzugún, and Monkey Puzzle in English), a species native to southern Chile and Argentina. Closely observed in gardens, it became a subject of horticultural experimentation. As one of the few conifers from the Global South able to survive outdoors in Europe, Araucaria araucana ’s transplantation process contributes to the history of environment, landscape, and, more specifically, plant hardiness and its connection to modern climate.
ABSTRACT Eighteenth-century natural history discovered that the entire territory of the Phlegraean Fields had been formed by volcanic activity, leading to a radical change in perceptions of a region already famous for its ancient ruins and connexions to ancient history and mythology. In this impermanent territory where works of architecture could be older than the volcanic hills beside them, writers expressed a sense of vertigo when confronted with the range and weight of the new ideas induced by their visit to the area, especially at a moment when scientists were expanding consciousness of geological time beyond the age of the Earth deduced from the Bible. Taking as a case study the chapter on the Phlegraean Fields within the beautifully illustrated Voyage pittoresque de Naples et de Sicile , this article examines the textual, pictorial and cartographical strategies through which this new understanding of the area’s temporality was communicated to a nonspecialist readership within the European elites.
ABSTRACT The main hall that today houses the Geominero Museum at the Geological and Mining Institute of Spain in Madrid is a landmark of both architectural and scientific heritage. This hall, built in an eclectic late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century style with a distinctive glass roof, was specifically designed to host the formal sessions of the Fourteenth International Geological Congress Madrid in 1926. The event marked a turning point for Spanish geology, elevating the country's presence in the international scientific community and attracting leading geologists from around the world. At the same time, the hall became a dedicated space for the institute's extensive collections of minerals, fossils, and rocks, formally establishing the museum in late 1926. The space continues to reflect the nineteenth-century ideal of museums as places for classifying and presenting knowledge, while its history remains closely linked to the 1926 Congress, highlighting the intersection of architecture, scientific research, and public representation of geological heritage.
ABSTRACT In a special course at the University of Vienna students were exposed to the historical development of the geosciences by exploring the collections of the Geological Archive at the Department of Geology. For many of the students it was their first opportunity to examine primary geohistorical documents. During their research they analyzed the documents from the perspectives of two disciplines, geology and history. The documents and maps provide insights into the researchers and their research methods in the 19th and 20th centuries. The benefit of investigating maps in the archive was clearly demonstrated in this course. An early geologic map by Johann Baptist Cžjžek is not only remarkably detailed, but it was later used by Eduard Suess in support of the concepts of the supercontinent Gondwana, the ancient ocean Tethys, and cyclic changes in sea level now described as transgressions and regressions. Employment records for the period 1873 to 1945 document several generations of geology assistants at the University of Vienna including two, Christof Exner and Friedrich Teller, who were employed between the two World Wars. Another geologist with records at the archives was Otto Ampferer. His idea of mobile landmasses anticipated the concept later popularized by Alfred Wegener as ‘continental drift’. Another geologist was Walter Medwenitsch who was one of the first professors appointed at the University of Vienna after World War II. He organized numerous field excursions for students well beyond Europe. Of note was an expedition to East Africa that visited sites of significant historical and anthropological importance. Students in the course were very interested in obtaining information about historical context and persons who had a great influence on the development of geology. It is always a pleasure to witness how geohistorical knowledge can be brought to life. The students’ enthusiasm has generated significant momentum in their research and provides a foundation for further study.
The study of Chile’s volcanoes through the early 20 th century was fuelled by European explorers and naturalists. The figures of Domeyko and Darwin stand out above all others. Brüggen made a major contribution to the increase in Chilean geological knowledge in the first half of the 20 th century. His students were key players in the institutionalization of geology at university level, also calling in experts from other parts of the world. The emergence of academic research in geology was influenced by mining activities and the search for economic resources. For the teaching of volcanology, Lorenzo Casertano brought a multidisciplinary approach from Italy to Chile. In order to investigate in more detail the general evolution of volcanological knowledge from the beginning of the 20 th century to the present, we analyse the studies on the Plinian eruption of Quizapu in 1932 as a turning point for the emergence of the Chilean volcanology. The analysis shows how the primarily descriptive studies on this eruption have evolved towards increasing specialization, quantification and multidisciplinarity, culminating in the understanding of the eruptive dynamics and magmatic processes of the volcanic phenomenon.
James Parkinson (1755–1824) was a late 18 th and early 19 th century apothecary surgeon. In addition to medicine, he published on other topics such as radical politics and paleontology. His paleontological monographs were important during the transitional period when fossils came to be regarded as the remains of once living organisms and were disentangled from Biblical explanations of their origins and distribution. Parkinson published on plants, invertebrates, and vertebrate fossils. Although his work on crinoids was regarded as significant during the 19 th century, it has largely been forgotten in the 21 st century. Parkinson's observations led him to interpret crinoids as animals, which was reflected in his morphological terminology, and he expanded crinoid classification beyond that based solely on columnals and pluricolumnals. However, Parkinson's morphological terminology, like that of many 19 th century students of crinoids, did not reflect homology; and he did not apply a Linnean crinoid taxonomy. Despite what is now regarded as inadequate morphological terminology and an obsolete classification scheme, James Parkinson's significant contributions to the study of crinoids should not be forgotten.
The Treatise on Invertebrate Paleontology project still ongoing over more than seventy years is a fine case study for the theme of this special issue on hidden histories in revision of paleontological collections. The history of the foundation and development of the Treatise is discussed together with an outline of how the project operates. Reference is made to those specialists who were contributors and gave of their expertise and time to create a monumental publication of over fifty volumes for the advancement of their science such as Raymond C. Moore who established the series in the 1940s. A selection of hidden histories is provided related to four Treatise volumes and the organization of their planning and revision. Personal accounts provided by paleontologists who held the roles of director of the series and editors/contributors involved in revision of early Treatise volumes on specific groups of invertebrate fossils provide a unique perspective into the organization of these scientific works as well as reflection on their current status and future challenges. This paper on the history and heritage of the Treatise aims to highlight the importance of the “blue, red and green volumes” within taxonomy and systematic invertebrate paleontology as a scientific heritage of the 20 th century and underline the need for future research on the role of the Treatise project in the history of science from the mid twentieth century onwards because to date historiography of this field and practise related to setting standards for classification within invertebrate paleontology is lacking.
The Austrian geologist and paleontologist Guido Stache (1833–1921) had a long and successful career at the Imperial Geological Survey in Vienna (Austria) in the second half of the nineteenth century. His interests were strongly focussed on the geology and mapping of the Austrian Hungarian Imperial lands and on the use of fossils for stratigraphy. In particular, he tried to use fossils for correlation of the Paleozoic strata he had mapped in areas of the Eastern Alps with those documented by Joachim Barrande (1799–1883) in his monumental work on the faunas of Bohemia. This paper highlights Stache's plans in the 1890s to publish a monograph on the fossils he had collected, a ‘hidden history’ that unfolded during systematic revision of fossil collections held at the Geological Survey of Austria one hundred years later in the 1990s. This case study emphasizes sources to be found in taxonomic monographs within the historiography of the discipline of paleontology.
