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The Map That Changed the World

The Tale of William Smith and the Birth of a Science

By Simon Winchester

(11)

| Paperback | 9780140280395

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Book Description

From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of the father of modern geology

In 1793, William Smith, the orphan son of a village blacksmith, made a startling discovery that was to turn the science of geology on its head. While surveying the rouContinue

From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of the father of modern geology

In 1793, William Smith, the orphan son of a village blacksmith, made a startling discovery that was to turn the science of geology on its head. While surveying the route for a canal near Bath, he noticed that the fossils found in one layer of the rocks he was excavating were very different from those found in another. And out of that realization came an epiphany: that by following these fossils one could trace layers of rocks as they dipped, rose and fell -- clear across England and clear across the world.

Obsessed with creating a map that would showcase his discovery, Smith spent the next twenty years traveling England alone, studying rock outcroppings and gathering information. In 1815 he published a hand-painted map more than eight feet tall and six feet wide. But four years later, swindled out of his profits, Smith ended up in debtors' prison. His wife went mad. He lived as a homeless man for ten long years.

Eventually a kindly aristocrat discovered him; Smith, the quiet genius and 'father of geology' was brought back to London and showered with the honors that he rightly deserved. Here now is his astounding story.

Critics

  • Charting the underworld

    The Map that Changed the World Simon Winchester 352pp, Viking, £12.99 Geology can be an inspirational subject. Crack open an igneous rock cooled slowly within the earth's crust and a veritable jewellery shop of multicoloured crystals sparkle into lif ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • It just never gets off the ground...

    The Map that Changed the World Simon Winchester Viking £12.99, pp352 Geology has all the best words. The glossary at the back of Simon Winchester's biography of William Smith, the father of geology and creator of the first geological map, is nothing ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

3 Reviews

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  • He had about half a book and really padded the rest. Professor and the Madman is still his best.

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    myrtlebch said on Mar 24, 2007 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback

  • An excellent book for those who love geology.
    As a geologist myself, this book shows me the paths in the past, leading to the present and then to the future.

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    Denise said on May 20, 2006 | Add your feedback

Book Details

  • Rating:
    (11)
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  • English Books
  • Paperback 352 Pages
  • Edition: New Ed
  • ISBN-10: 0140280391
  • ISBN-13: 9780140280395
  • Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
  • Pub date: Jul 04, 2002
  • Dimensions: 1290 mm x 839 mm x 194 mm Just how big is that?
  • Also available as: Hardcover, Audio CD, Audio Cassette and eBook
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9780140280395 Paperback $16.08 $10.84 The Book Depository
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