The Highlands Controversy: Constructing Geological Knowledge through Fieldwork in Nineteenth-Century Britain / Edition 2

by David R. Oldroyd

Overview

The Highlands Controversy is a rich and perceptive account of the third and last major dispute in nineteenth-century geology stemming from the work of Sir Roderick Murchison. The earlier Devonian and Cambrian-Silurian controversies centered on whether the strata of Devon and Wales should be classified by lithological or paleontological criteria, but the Highlands dispute arose from the difficulties the Scottish Highlands presented to geologists who were just learning to decipher the very complex processes of mountain building and metamorphism. David Oldroyd follows this controversy into the last years of the nineteenth century, as geology was transformed by increasing professionalization and by the development of new field and laboratory techniques. In telling this story, Oldroyd's aim is to analyze how scientific knowledge is constructed within a competitive scientific community—how theory, empirical findings, and social factors interact in the formation of knowledge.

Oldroyd uses archival material and his own extensive reconstruction of the nineteenth-century fieldwork in a case study showing how detailed maps and sections made it possible to understand the exceptionally complex geological structure of the Highlands

An invaluable addition to the history of geology, The Highlands Controversy also makes important contributions to our understanding of the social and conceptual processes of scientific work, especially in times of heated dispute.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226626352
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	07/25/1990
Series:	Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	448
Product dimensions:	6.62(w) x 9.37(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

David R. Oldroyd is associate professor in the School of Science and Technology Studies, University of New South Wales. His several books include The Arch of Knowledge and Darwinian Impacts.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
1. Nineteenth-Century British Geology and Its Historiography: Some Themes, Goals, and Methods
2. Early Geological Investigations in the Northwest Highlands
3. Geological Work of Murchison and Nicol in the Northwest Highlands: 1850s
4. The Fieldwork of 1859 and the Aberdeen Meeting of the British Association
5. The Murchison-Geikie Tour of 1860
6. Murchison and Geikie contra Nicol: The Establishment of the "Northwest Paradigm"
7. The Battle Rejoined and the Collapse of the Murchisonian Paradigm
8. Charles Lapworth: Digressions and Diversions to the Southern Uplands and the Alps
9. The Professionals Vindicated: The Work of the Surveyors in the Northwest Highlands
10. The Impact of the Highlands Controversy on the Progress of the Geological Survey: The Wharton Committee's Inquiry
11. Issues: Methodological, Epistemological, and Social
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

The controversy has to do with the characterization of the strata of the UK, specifically the debate between geologists Sir Roderick Murchison (1792-1871) and James Nicol (1810-1879) concerning the interpretation of the geological structure of the rocks of the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. Beyond controversy, this is also a splendid social history of geology in Victorian Britain. Paper edition (unseen), $29.95. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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