HISTORICAL GEOLOGY

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22419, 4 June 1938, Page 18

HISTORICAL GEOLOGY

* AN EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION An Outline of Historical Geology.: By A. K. Wells. Allen and Unwin. 266 pp. (12s 6d net.) [Reviewed by Dr. R. S. ALLAN.] Historical geology is that part of the science which attempts to unravel the past history of the earth. Its raw materials are the rock units, or strata, and the traces of past organisms which escaped total destruction and were entombed in them. Its leading motive is historical, in that study of the succession of the rock units and of the faunal or floral assemblages in them enables the geologist to present a more or less connected story of the past. It is a story that stimulates the imagination of all who , take the trouble to make themselves familiar with its terminology and its guiding principles, both relatively simple. Dr. A. K. Wells, of King’s College, London, has produced a lucid summary of the story as it has been pieced together for the British Isles. It is a story which, differing greatly from that of this Dominion, has a high significance for local students, for two reasons. The first is that the great pioneers of historical geology, William Smith, Murchison, Sedgwick,, and Lyell, established the principles and technique of the science in the British Isles. Second, the succession in that area, small as it is, is unusually complete and forms the basis for much of the international classification of geological time. Dr. Wells’s “Outline” is clearly written, free from unnecessary technicalities, and well illustrated. It should form a useful introduction to a science which, in addition to it obvious practical use, has a distinct cultural value in adding a new significance and a new dignity to the countryside upon which we dwell.