The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology, Simon Winchester

The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology

Simon Winchester

From the author of the bestselling The Professor and the Madman comes the fascinating story of William Smith, the orphaned son of an English country blacksmith, who became obsessed with creating the world's first geological map and ultimately became the father of modern geology.

In 1793 William Smith, a canal digger, made a startling discovery that was to turn the fledgling science of the history of the earth -- and a central plank of established Christian religion -- on its head. He noticed that the rocks he was excavating were arranged in layers; more important, he could see quite clearly that the fossils found in one layer were very different from those found in another. And out of that realization came an epiphany: that by following the fossils, one could trace layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell -- clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world. Determined to publish his discovery by creating a map that would display the hidden underside of England, he spent twenty years traveling the length and breadth of the kingdom by stagecoach and on foot, studying rock outcrops and fossils, piecing together the image of this unseen universe.

In 1815 he published his epochal beautiful hand-painted map, more than eight feet tall and six feet wide. But four years after its triumphant publication, and with his young wife going steadily mad to the point of nymphomania, Smith ended up in debtors' prison, a victim of plagiarism, swindled out of his recognition and his profits. He left London for the north of England and remained homeless for ten long years as he searched for work. It wasn't until 1831, when his employer, a sympathetic nobleman, brought him into contact with the Geological Society of London -- which had earlier denied him a fellowship -- that at last this quiet genius was showered with the honors long overdue him. He was summoned south to receive the society's highest award, and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension.

The Map That Changed the World is, at its foundation, a tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin and homelessness. The world's coal and oil industry, its gold mining, its highway systems, and its railroad routes were all derived entirely from the creation of Smith's first map.; and with a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world-changing discovery.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Harper Perennial
  • Publish Date: Apr 28th, 2009
  • Pages: 368
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.01in - 5.36in - 0.94in - 0.62lb
  • EAN: 9780061767906
  • Categories: HistoryEarth Sciences - GeologyEurope - Great Britain - Scotland

More books to explore

Book Cover for: Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, Annalee Newitz
Book Cover for: London Fog: The Biography, Christine L. Corton
Book Cover for: What's Gotten Into You: The Story of Your Body's Atoms, from the Big Bang Through Last Night's Dinner, Dan Levitt
Book Cover for: The Book of Unconformities: Speculations on Lost Time, Hugh Raffles
Book Cover for: Geopedia: A Brief Compendium of Geologic Curiosities, Marcia Bjornerud
Book Cover for: Origins: How Earth's History Shaped Human History, Lewis Dartnell
Book Cover for: Shackleton, Ranulph Fiennes
Book Cover for: Conspiracy on Cato Street, Vic Gatrell
Book Cover for: The Debatable Land: The Lost World Between Scotland and England, Graham Robb
Book Cover for: The Last Volcano: A man, a romance, and the quest to understand nature's most magnificent fury, John Dvorak
Book Cover for: Money for Nothing: The Scientists, Fraudsters, and Corrupt Politicians Who Reinvented Money, Panicked a Nation, and Made the World Rich, Thomas Levenson
Book Cover for: The Multifarious Mr. Banks: From Botany Bay to Kew, the Natural Historian Who Shaped the World, Toby Musgrave
Book Cover for: Time Song: Journeys in Search of a Submerged Land, Julia Blackburn
Book Cover for: Victorious Century: The United Kingdom, 1800-1906, David Cannadine
Book Cover for: The Crofter and the Laird, John McPhee

About the Author

Winchester, Simon: -

Simon Winchester is the acclaimed author of many books, including The Professor and the Madman, The Men Who United the States, The Map That Changed the World, The Man Who Loved China, A Crack in the Edge of the World, and Krakatoa, all of which were New York Times bestsellers and appeared on numerous best and notable lists. In 2006, Winchester was made an officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Her Majesty the Queen. He resides in western Massachusetts.

More books by Simon Winchester

Book Cover for: Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Professor and the Madman, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked the Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: A Crack in the Edge of the World: America and the Great California Earthquake of 1906, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators and Fading Empires, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Men Who United the States: America's Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics, and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The River at the Center of the World: A Journey Up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Korea: A Walk Through the Land of Miracles, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: The Fracture Zone: My Return to the Balkans, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Outposts: Journeys to the Surviving Relics of the British Empire, Simon Winchester
Book Cover for: Pacific LP, Simon Winchester

Praise for this book

"With descriptive contemporary visitations to places significant to the story and well-chosen historical detail, he makes immediate not only the magnitude and elegance of Smith's accomplishment, but also the thrill of each of the moments of genius necessary to reach his ultimate conclusion. Smith's life provides a terrific plot to frame his contribution to science. Winchester's wonderful account does credit to it." -- Publishers Weekly (*Starred Review*)

"Winchester has once again captured the essence of persistence against odds resulting in achievement. His fascinating account will not disappoint." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Winchester brings Smith's struggle to life in clear and beautiful language, the richness of which he continues to celebrate." -- New York Times Book Review

"Winchester has once again captured the essence of persistence against odds resulting in achievement." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"Smith's life provides a terrific plot to frame his contribution to science. Winchester's wonderful account does credit to it." -- Publishers Weekly (*Starred Review*)

"Winchester masterfully weaves a compelling history." -- Newsday

"Smith's unsung life provides the perfect backdrop for yet another entertaining intellectual history." -- Denver Post

"A compelling human story" -- Boston Sunday Herald

"Well-researched narrative" -- BusinessWeek

"a marvellous book " -- The Independent (London)