Man (Dr Peadar McArdle) standing at a lectern with tv screen to left

Great launch today for another book by Dr Peadar McArdle on Irish geology history, this time the legendary G. Henry Kinahan and his equally capable wife Harriette www.choicepublishing.ie/index_files/...

The first rock thin section was published in 1851 by Henry Clifton Sorby in his account of "The Calcareous Grit of the Yorkshire Coast" (a fine-grained sandstone rich in Jurassic microfossils)
...

#FossilFriday Mary Ann Woodhouse Mantell, was born on April 9, 1795. She is recognised for finding the first Iguanodon tooth. She also made the illustration of Mantell’s work: “Fossils of the South Downs: or Illustrations of the Geology of Sussex”. ⚒️🧪

paleonerdish.wordpress.com/2025/02/10/m...

Left portrait of Mary Anning wearing a green cloak and straw bonnet, holding a hammer and with a basket over her arm. Right, table of contents of the Magazine of Natural History listing a contribution by Mary Anning, and the text of her publication.

7 April 1839: #MaryAnning writes to Edward Charlesworth, editor of the Magazine of Natural History, commenting on a paper he had published on the Lias shark Hybodus. It was not intended for publication, but it is Mary Anning's only scientific publication.

Top left, portrait of Mary Anning in a green cloak and straw bonnet tied with a red ribbon, holding a hammer and with a basket over her arm; top right,portrait of Thomas Allan, seated at a table holding a book, with mineral specimens on the table; bottom, extract from Allan's journal for 1824, '25th [June] Lyme Regis Mary Anning the Geologist of this place is a very interesting person and the scientific are entirely indebted to her for the preservation of some of the finest remains of a former world that are known in Europe.'

As well as being Easter Sunday, today is, apparently, Geologists' Day, so here is the journal of Scottish mineralogist Thomas Allan (1777–1833) who visited Lyme Regis in June 1824 and was much impressed by the expertise of 'Mary Anning the Geologist of this Place'. #MaryAnning

“There is some fine-grained syenitic granite”
April 4, 1832, Charles Darwin on the HMS Beagle reaches Rio de Janeiro, where he geologizes a bit 🪨🔨

Inge Lehmann and Earth’s deepest Secret Science writer Hanne Strager explores how the trailblazing Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann overcame self-doubt to discover that Earth has a solid inner core, overturning the long-held belief that it was liquid

Inge Lehmann and Earth’s deepest Secret

Top left, portrait of Mary Anning in a green cloak and straw bonnet, holding a hammer and with a basket over her arm; top right, photograph of Lord Cole, later 3rd Earl of Enniskillen, in a dark frock coat and waistcoat, bow tie, and with a beard; bottom, extract from a letter from Mary Anning to Cole: '...I have about 12 Ophiuras fro 1 shilling to 5, pines from 1 to 7/6, only 3 specimens of Logo not first rate one iridescent one in stone a a slab of Penta[crinites] at £1-5-0 Ammonites both polished and rough from 1 shilling to 25s ...'

1 April 1839: Mary Anning writes to her friend fossil collector Lord Cole with prices of fossils she has in stock, including starfish from 1 to 5 shillings, Pinna from 1 shilling to 7s 6d, Pentacrinites for £1 5s and ammonites, some cut and polished from 1 shilling to 25 shillings. #MaryAnning

Ah yes now we see Martin Rudwick stood on the right, and Philpo Taquet on the left....and is that Jake Hancock we spotted towards the back left? Alas Denis Dean we never met so his image eludes.

Expo "Du premier métro au Grand Paris Express - Petite histoire de la géologie et grands travaux"
▶️après les locaux de la Société géologique de France,
▶️après la bibliothèque Géos de @sorbonne-universite.fr
▶️le campus UniLaSalle Beauvais : encore quelques jours !
▶️ urls.fr/Wr31Km

We spy Prof. Hugh Torrens in the crowd (centre, mid-left) and is that a young(er) @tomsharperocks.bsky.social (centre, mid-right)?

Richard Fallon on the Victorian scientist Richard Owen and the literature inspired by his discovery of prehistoric life: publicdomainreview.org/essay/richard-owen-and-v...

March 29, 1936, Danish seismologist Inge Lehmann writes a letter to a colleague in which she argues that seismic waves- specifically the faster traveling Primary-waves - recorded from distant earthquakes show some anomalous characteristics suggesting the existence of Earth's inner core

G.B.Greenough noted as the popular name for inferior Oolite in Group 14 of the geological groups on his 1820 map. Conybeare (1822) noted it differs from Bath stone in the abundance & yellowness of the calcareous matter by which it is cemented, & in being more porous & subject to flake after frost.

Mary Anning 'sick of fossils' letter bought by museum for £15,000 Lyme Regis Museum buys a fragment of letter written by the celebrated palaeontologist at auction.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Gravestone of Esther Applin (née Richards), one of the founders of petroleum micropalaeontology, and her husband, the geologist Paul Applin: 'Pioneers in Science / Partners in Love' (www.findagrave.com/memorial/957...).

The speakers’ newly published book 'Hertfordshire Puddingstone: origin, history and folklore', supported by the Geologists’ Association’s Curry Fund, is also available to purchase from www.therockgallery.co.uk.

Text: Join the Royal Historical Society. Closing dates for next applications: Mondays 11 May and 27 July 2026 The Royal Historical Society represents the interests of historical researchers in universities, libraries, archives, museums, heritage and broadcasting, as well as those engaged in public, community and family history research.

The Society is an international organisation of 7000 historians with representatives in more than 60 countries worldwide: bit.ly/4dHQI8g

Applications to join the Society are welcome at anytime from researchers of any subject area / any country 2/2

Outreach and Engagement Committee – BSHS – The British Society for the History of Science BSHS – The British Society for the History of Science

📣 BSHS Outreach & Engagement Project Grants

Have an idea for sharing #HistSci with wider audiences?

We offer grants of up to £500 to support creative engagement projects — from events to collaborations with museums or heritage sites.

Next deadline is May 15, 2026!

bshs.org.uk/oec/#project...

March 23, 1769, birthday of British engineer, land surveyor and geologist William Smith.
Geognostic maps showing where certain rocks can be found were published already in the 15th century, but Smith recognized that rocks and fossils were not distributed randomly...

March 22, 1832, German author/poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe died #OTD. He was also a mining engineer.
He suggested some of the colors still used today on geological maps & studied the geology of the Alps ⛰️
The common iron-hydroxide mineral Goethite was named after him 💎

Image of a section of the United Kingdom and Ireland with the text: 'The Royal Historical Society works closely with a number of other UK and Irish societies dedicated to the study, communication and promotion of historical knowledge and understanding. Once a year, the Society hosts a half-day meeting of heads of UK history societies to discuss subjects of shared interest, such as publishing, membership and advocacy for the discipline. The Society also holds regular online meetings with its equivalent national organisations worldwide.'

This week we released a select listing of 100 national history societies active in the UK & Ireland bit.ly/4rANJ52.

These subject specialist societies enable research and promote the value of historical knowledge. Many are membership organisations and invite historians to join them #Skystorians

An interesting and useful list - but it omits the History of Geology Group. We are the only specialist group (i.e. society) for our subject's history in the UK with much expertise amongst our membership + some who are world renowned scholars. We would welcome being included in your listings.

@hoggroup.bsky.social Of interest?

HOGG members are looking forward to reading this from @tomsharperocks.bsky.social‬ + other articles. Join HOGG to receive GeoHistories (twice yearly)+ benefits = online talks, field meetings, archive etc. More details and simple instructions here historyofgeologygroup.org/join-hogg/

"For all Snow's certainty that the Soho outbreak had its origin at the Broad Street pump...he could not explain how the well had itself become infected, or for how long the infection remained in it." Looking at records,the Rev. H.Whitehead made that discovery!
johnsnow.matrix.msu.edu/documentUplo...

Une histoire des sciences de la Terre
sous la direction de Pierre Savaton
▶️ désormais disponible à l’achat sur le site de l’éditeur Iste, en version imprimée et en version numérique
▶️ sommaire et introduction = en accès libre sur le site de l’éditeur
www.istegroup.com/fr/produit/h...

The Hyena's Den. This engraving of William Buckland exploring Kirkdale Cave in 1821, crawling amongst fossil bones and coprolites, accompanied a humorous verse by his friend W.D. Conybeare describing his 'expedition' to the Yorkshire cave. His scientific description and interpretation of the cave's fossils and deposits won him the award of the Copley Medal of the Royal Society. (Image: courtesy of Duncan Hawley collection ©, reproduced with permission.)

Marking the birth of William Buckland in 1784 - he was a cutting-edge, enthusiastic, controversial (geo)scientist of genial nature & open to reasoned argument. Misunderstood & mythologised, his eccentric 'antics' much exaggerated. His flamboyance in reality a cover for self-doubt in advocating?

Top left, portrait of Mary Anning wearing a green cloak and a straw bonnet and holding a hammer; bottom left, Buckland's address on a letter by Mary Anning; right, portrait of William Buckland, in a dark jacket, white shirt and tie, balding and with long sideburns.

12 March 1784, Axminster, Devon: Birth of William Buckland. Reader in Geology and Mineralogy at Oxford, Buckland was a lifelong friend of Mary Anning and her greatest supporter. He was the first to be told of any new discoveries and helped her to find buyers for her fossils or bought them himself.

Passionnante journée : merci aux orateurs et aux participants (en salle et à distance) pour la réussite de cette réunion du Cofrhigéo !