Past Meetings

The History of Geology Group

Past meetings of the History of Geology Group

The ‘Discovery’ of the Silurian: following in the footsteps of Murchison.

Using original material and first-hand evidence from the field, Duncan Hawley will outline the origin one of the most iconic geological Periods, suggesting why Sir Roderick Murchison chose to view this particular location in the Wye valley as the site where he ‘discovered’ the Silurian.
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Geological drugs and prophylactics – discovering how knowledge of geology was used in the past to prevent disease and protect against ailments

Dr Chris Duffin will remind us that the avoidance of and protection against disease in the historical past, without the benefit of a modern understanding of pathogen transmission, physiology and public health, was an unreliable business. As a consequence the natural world was exploited for potential drugs and protective materials - amongst which are a surprising range of geological components.
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The history of petroleum exploration: evolving technologies based on a handful of underlying principles.

The first geological principles explaining petroleum finds were established in the early 1900s in exploration on land. Petroleum exploration progressed when technologies enabled these first principles to be applied to ‘hidden’ prospects (e.g. offshore).
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HOGG Online talk – Treasures of the Sedgwick Museum Archive

Cambridge University has long been a seat for study and work that has advanced the knowledge and understanding of geology. The Sedgwick Museum has always played an important and role in documenting this work, not least through holding the archives of many of the geologists at the university since the times of Adam Sedgwick.
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HOGG online Meeting – Conference: The Geological Society’s Map: understanding George Bellas Greenough and his 1820 map project.

This online meeting is the re-scheduled Greenough map bicentenary event.
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HOGG online lunchtime talk: William Buckland: glacial impressions

This lunchtime event, starting at 1pm, will comprise three 10-15 minute presentations about different aspects of William Buckland’s involvement in supporting the idea that a massive ice “nappe” had covered much of the northern hemisphere, postulated to the Geological Society by Louis Agassiz in1840.
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Details of meetings and events previously held by the History of Geology Group.

HOGG online talks are listed  below

Conference/Seminar abstracts are published in a booklet.

Field meetings are accompanied with a field guide.  Some of these meetings booklets are available for download.

.September 20 – 23 2026  Tercentenary of James Hutton Field meeting: Journey to the South Alpine parts of Scotland in the year 1786: locations in search of proofs for ‘Theory of the Earth’.  Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland.. Leader: Duncan Hawley.

August 29 2026  HOGG Wikipedia Workshop 2026

July 29 2026  Visit Meeting: The Lapworth Museum of Geology, University of Birmingham – collections and archives behind the scenes

25 June 2026 HOGG Online: The Geological Lecture Room, Oxford: a fresh look at a well-known group portrait with Sue Newell (Associate Researcher, Oxford University Museum of Natural History).

20 May 2026  HOGG Online:  Andrew Crombie Ramsay and his Geological Lectures to Working Men: no compromise with Anne Barrett.

18 March 2026 HOGG Online: Andrija Mohorovičić: Croatian seismologist and the Crust–Mantle boundary discovery, with Dr John Milsom.

19 February 2026  HOGG Online: The Miners’ Stratigraphy and the 18th century roots of stratigraphic geology,   with Dr. Ru Smith.

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