The Common Fossils of The British Rocks

The Geologist ◽  
1858 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-29
Author(s):  
S. J. Mackie
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
Time And Space ◽  
The Road ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Common

In a magazine devoted especially to the propagation of Geological knowledge, it seems no infringement of its space, no deterioration of its value, tha t some pains should be taken to aid the student in his early efforts, and to disperse broadcast some useful elementary information, which may prove to the mass at once a source of instruction and of enjoyment, and so, by clearing the road to future and higher studies, may foster a dawning taste, and ultimately prove the means of adding many volunteers, and not unlikely even some brilliant master-minds to the ranks of Geologists, that otherwise, deterred at the outset, might perhaps have turned their attention and talents to some more accessible, if not more congenial study.Who does not feel some interest in the past history of this beautiful world—the scene of our labours and of our loves—of our successes and of our failures—the stage of our existence and the tomb of our dust ? If the animated creations of the past were dumb brute animals, still the earth was green and gay with trees, and plants and flowers—the hu m of insects vibrated on the summer's air, and the snows of winter covered the ancient lands with their hyemal mantle—the tides of ocean rose and fell, and the world went rolling on through time and space, through years and seasons. There were earthquakes the n and blazing volcanos—and winds and storms—great waves and merry dancing ripples on the sea.

Obituary notices of fellows deceased

1877 ◽  
Vol 25 (171-178) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Reign Of Terror ◽  
Accurate Observation

George Poulett Scrope. It is scarcely possible at the present day to realize the conditions of that intellectual “reign of terror” which prevailed at the commencement of the present century, as the consequence of the unreasoning prejudice and wild alarm excited by the early progress of geological inquiry. At that period, every attempt to explain the past history of the earth by a reference to the causes still in operation upon it was met, not by argument, but by charges of atheism against its propounder; and thus Hutton’s masterly fragment of a ‘Theory of the Earth,’ Playfair’s persuasive‘ Illustrations,’ and Hall’s records of accurate observation and ingenious experiment had come to be inscribed m a social Index Expurgatorius ,and for a while, indeed, might have seemed to be consigned to total oblivion. Equally injurious suspicions were aroused against the geologist who dared to make allusion to the important part which igneous forces have undoubtedly played in the formation of certain rocks; for the authority of Werner had acquired an almost sacred cha­racter; and “ Vulcanists ” and “ Huttonians ” were equally objects of aversion and contempt. To two men who have very recently—and within a few months of one another—passed away from our midst, science is indebted for boldly en­countering and successfully overcoming this storm of prejudice. Hutton and his friends lived a generation too soon ; and thus it was reserved tor Lyell and Scrope to carry out the task which the great Scotch philosopher had failed to accomplish, namely, the removal of geology from the domain of speculation to that of inductive science.

scholarly journals VI. The caytoniales, a new group of angiospermous plants from the Jurassic Rocks of Yorkshire

1925 ◽  
Vol 213 (402-410) ◽  
pp. 299-363 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Plants ◽  
Past History ◽  
Fossil Plants ◽  
Amount Of Information ◽  
Vast Amount ◽  
The Past ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jurassic Rocks ◽  
Living Organisms

The study of fossil plants during the last quarter of a century has revealed a vast amount of information about the past history of many modern plant types. But while we have learned much about the Pteridophyta and Gymnosperms, singularly little information has been gained about the evolution of the plants now dominant in the vegetation of the world—the Angiosperms. In 1879 Darwin wrote the well-known lines to Hooker :—“ The rapid develop­ment, so far as we can judge, of all the higher plants within recent geological times is an abominable mystery. . . . I should like to see the whole problem solved'. Though 45 years have passed since this was written, we are still hopelessly in the dark about the origin and early evolution of this, one of the largest classes of living organisms. Interesting theories have been put forward as to the possible origin of the angiosperms, but these have been almost entirely unsupported by fossil evidence.

A Discussion on the evolution of the Precambrian crust - Introductory remarks

1973 ◽  
Vol 273 (1235) ◽  
pp. 316-316 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Early History ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Precambrian Rocks ◽  
The Past ◽  
Geological Processes ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of

The realization that the behaviour of the Earth has changed radically during geological time has come about largely in the last decade. This development, which constitutes one of the major advances in geological thinking, results from the study of Precambrian phenomena in many parts of the world and in particular from the work of a small number of geochronologists. In the last ten years as large numbers of unfossiliferous Precambrian rocks have been dated, it has become clear that the nature of geological processes has varied throughout geological time and that one of the cardinal doctrines of geology - the concept that the present is the key to the past — could not be applied to the study of the early history of the Earth.

Introduction: The Instability of Scientific Truth

1999 ◽  
Author(s):  
Naomi Oreskes
Keyword(s):  
Underground Water ◽  
Factual Knowledge ◽  
Past Century ◽  
Life And Death ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Success Of Science ◽  
Scientific Truth

Scientists are interested in truth. They want to know how the world really is, and they want to use that knowledge to do things in the world. In the earth sciences, this has meant developing methods of observation to determine the shape, structure, and history of the earth and designing instruments to measure, record, predict, and interpret the earth’s physical and chemical processes and properties. The resulting knowledge may be used to find mineral deposits, energy resources, or underground water; to delineate areas of earthquake and volcanic hazard; to isolate radioactive and toxic wastes; or to make inferences and predictions about the earth’s past and future climate. The past century has produced a prodigious amount of factual knowledge about the earth, and prodigious demands are now being placed on that knowledge. The history of science demonstrates, however, that the scientific truths of yesterday are often viewed as misconceptions, and, conversely, that ideas rejected in the past may now be considered true. History is littered with the discarded beliefs of yesteryear, and the present is populated by epistemic resurrections. This realization leads to the central problem of the history and philosophy of science: How are we to evaluate contemporary science’s claims to truth given the perishability of past scientific knowledge? This question is of considerable philosophic interest and of practical import as well. If the truths of today are the falsehoods of tomorrow, what does this say about the nature of scientific truth? And if our knowledge is perishable and incomplete, how can we warrant its use in sensitive social and political decision-making? For many, the success of science is its own best defense. From jet flight to the smallpox vaccine, from CD players to desktop scanners, contemporary life is permeated by technology enabled by scientific insight. We benefit daily from the liberating effects of petroleum found with the aid of geological knowledge, microchips manufactured with the aid of physical knowledge, materials synthesized with the aid of chemical knowledge. Our view of life — and death — is conditioned by the results of scientific research and the capabilities of technological control.

On the past history of the Earth-Moon system

Icarus ◽  
1966 ◽  
Vol 5 (1-6) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
E.L. Ruskol
Keyword(s):  
Past History ◽  
Moon System ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of

Learning from the Fossil Record An Introduction

1996 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 67-68
Author(s):  
Judy Scotchmoor
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Record ◽  
Past History ◽  
Present Species ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
History Of ◽  
Geologic Processes

Learning from the Fossil Record is a title carefully chosen for it conveys multiple concepts. Paleontologists, geologists, biologists, and others use the fossil record to learn about the past history of the Earth. Using this knowledge, we have gained an understanding of geologic processes that continue today, biodiversity past and present, species origination and extinction, past and present climates, oceans, and atmospheres among others. In fact, we have been able to piece together the fascinating story of our dynamic Earth for the past 3.5 billion years.

scholarly journals Earthly births

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucy Benjamin
Keyword(s):  
Walter Benjamin ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Political Concept ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Slow Violence ◽  
Climate Crisis

The aim of this article is straightforward: to present two clarifications of Hannah- Arendt’s seasoned political concept of natality and to conclude by positioning this new account of natality within the context of the climate crisis. In many ways, this concluding section, where natality is read as a form of historical emancipation, hinges on the degree to which I succeed in reframing existing conversations around natality. In the first instance I submit an ‘earthly reading’ of natality before turning to discuss the historical implications of this ‘re-earthed’ natality as enacting a form of weak messianism akin to that of Walter Benjamin. Rethinking natality in this way, I present an account of Arendt’s work as always already inclined towards the issues brought to light in the climate crisis. And so, while the forms of emancipation and redemption that I locate in natality may already be commonly read in natal actions, which break spontaneously into the world and recall the originality of appearance, I nevertheless contend that its political implications reach new grounds with the revisions that I offer in the body of my article. By way of conclusion, I join critical Anthropocene theorists in contending with the ‘slow violence’, ‘willed racial blindness’ and ‘crises of the imagination’ that the climate crisis elicits. This is the setting that sits behind my intervention into natality and, in turn, it is this setting that I suggest can be illuminated through the weak messianism of a ‘re-earthed’ natality. Arguing for Arendt’s latent consideration of the earth, I hope to expose the ruined fragments of the past that shape the present crisis and gesture towards their radical redemption. If I succeed in showing that natality can be used as a resource to rethink both the prehistory and the present of the climate crisis then I will have achieved a reorientation in thinking about Arendt’s politics. Which is merely to say that I will have revealed concerns for the earth as intrinsic to natal actions and, in turn, their appearance as messianic disruptions on the earth. Prompted by the need to think critically about the historical appearance of the climate crisis whilst retaining, at the same time, the injunction to think expansively about future action – that is, as not determined exclusively by the violence of the climate crisis – this article defends a reconsideration of natality as a form of critical historical intervention. Formulating this reconstruction is then ‘operationalised’ in the concluding section where I invoke its revolutionary force in remapping the history of the climate crisis.

The Common Fossils of the British Rocks

The Geologist ◽  
1858 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 134-137
Author(s):  
S. J. Mackie
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Range ◽  
Surface Soils ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Inorganic Matter ◽  
The World ◽  
The Common

But what are the silent voices of the past saying—for what have the wonderful and mysterious powers of nature for so many ages been labouring? Where, through all the strange mysteries of the past, is the finger of God pointing? To MAN, and the world that is his. Look at all the appropriations of every kind of organic and inorganic matter to such varied and different purposes by our race, and can we divert our minds from contemplating the vast time and the numberless operations which have assisted in the elaboration of the materials necessary for our comforts or our wants? Past and present creations alike show that animals fitted for each peculiar condition of our planet have existed at every period; but of all those classes which have passed away, or of those which exist, there are none which have not been limited in their geographical range, none to which a considerable other portion of this world has not been useless and unserviceable. Is it so with man? The stars of heaven—how many ages old!—tell him the track of the world he lives upon; mysterious magnetism guides the slender needle by which his freighted ships are safely steered from shore to shore; the very lightning is his messenger. The coal and iron of his mighty engines are ages old; the clay of the bricks of which he builds his houses, and the marble of the statues with which he adorns his palaces, have passed through ages of preparation; innumerable and diversified as are the materials of the earth, has he not a use for them all, from the lowermost granites to the uppermost surface-soils?

History of Tour de France from the Geographical Point of View

2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 255-277 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimír Bačík ◽  
Michal Klobučník
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
The Past ◽  
Advanced Technologies ◽  
The World ◽  
Spatial Dimensions ◽  
Tour De France ◽  
Wide Circle ◽  
History Of ◽  
Expert Community ◽  
Geographical Point

Abstract The Tour de France, a three week bicycle race has a unique place in the world of sports. The 100th edition of the event took place in 2013. In the past of 110 years of its history, people noticed unique stories and duels in particular periods, celebrities that became legends that the world of sports will never forget. Also many places where the races unfolded made history in the Tour de France. In this article we tried to point out the spatial context of this event using advanced technologies for distribution of historical facts over the Internet. The Introduction briefly displays the attendance of a particular stage based on a regional point of view. The main topic deals with selected historical aspects of difficult ascents which every year decide the winner of Tour de France, and also attract fans from all over the world. In the final stage of the research, the distribution of results on the website available to a wide circle of fans of this sports event played a very significant part (www.tdfrance.eu). Using advanced methods and procedures we have tried to capture the historical and spatial dimensions of Tour de France in its general form and thus offering a new view of this unique sports event not only to the expert community, but for the general public as well.

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