Foundations

Principles of Geology

Author: Charles Lyell

Publication data: 1830–1833.

Online version: Online version at esp.org

Description: The work's subtitle was "An Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface by Reference to Causes now in Operation", and this explains Lyell's impact on science: he was, along with the earlier John Playfair, the major advocate of the then-controversial idea of uniformitarianism, that the earth was shaped entirely by slow-moving forces acting over a very long period of time. This was in contrast to catastrophism, a geologic idea that went hand-in-hand with the age of the earth suggested by biblical chronology. In various revised editions (twelve in all, through 1872), Principles of Geology was the most influential geological work in the middle of the 19th century, and did much to put geology on a modern footing.

Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence

geochemistry

'Victor Moritz Goldschmidt: Father of Modern Geochemistry' by Brian Mason (ISBN 0-941809-03X)

hydrogeology

petroleum geology

economic geology

soil science

climatology

biogeology

geodetics

geophysics

structural geology

sedimentology

stratigraphy

mineralogy

petrology

The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks

Norman L. Bowen

Published: 1928

geomorphology

Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains

Grove Karl Gilbert

1877 U.S.G.S. Professional Paper

seismology

volcanology

engineering geology

geotechnical engineering