2012 December – Piltdown: 100 years on
One hundred years ago, Piltdown man was revealed to the world at a packed and excited meeting at the Geological Society of London on 18 December 1912. It was hailed as a very early species of human – possibly even a missing link between man and ape that Charles Darwin had predicted. It was of […]
2011 April – Geological collectors and collecting
HoGG conference on Geological Collectors and Collecting, held at the Natural History Museum London in April 2011. For abstracts and programme click here.
Sue Tyler Friedman Medal 2013
This year the Geological Society of London has awarded its Sue Tyler Friedman Medal to Professor Henry (Hank) Frankel of the Department of Philosophy,UniversityofMissouri–Kansas City,USA. The award was established by Gerry Friedman in 1987 by a gift of the Northeastern Science Foundation Inc. of Troy,New York, and dedicated to his wife Sue Tyler Friedman. The […]
INHIGEO 2013 field trips — a few places left
A few places are still available on Field trips 2 and 3 and can be reserved on a first-come first-served basis by paying the full registration fee to HOGG by 15 June. Please see full details on the Inhigeo field trips webpages.
Rutherford's geophysicists
A Celebration of the work of Lord Blackett and Professor Sir Edward Bullard, on the Physics of the Earth. Although both were trained in nuclear physics, Patrick Blackett and Edward (Teddy) Bullard enjoyed careers that encompassed the Earth sciences. They were both convinced that Wegener’s ideas about continental drift had been right and their work […]
How do we know the age of the Earth?
In the December issue of Focus, a science and technology magazine published by the BBC, Cherry Lewis answers the question of how we know the age of the Earth. Based on her book The Dating Game, she summarises the history of how we came to know the age of the Earth through the progressive development […]
The Evolution of Creationism
In a recent issue of GSAToday Dave Montgomery of Seattle has written an excellent short account of the history of Creationism. Following all recent scholars like Ron Numbers he traces the roots of Young Earth Creationists (YEC) to about 1900 in the Seventh Day Adventist church, rather than presenting the view that it is a […]
William Boyd Dawkins, geologist & cave hunter
As part of Manchester’s Science Festival, HOGG Secretary, Leucha Veneer, will be giving a talk on the curator and cave hunter, William Boyd Dawkins (1837-1929). Boyd Dawkins found and recorded tools from Neolithic and Bronze Age man in the caves of Cresswell Crags, a limestone gorge honeycombed with caves. Using his knowledge of geology from […]
Hugh Torrens wins IUGS Tikhomirov award
Emeritus Professor Hugh Torrens has been awarded the inaugural V. V. Tikhomirov Award for the History of Geology. The Award is one of the new IUGS Scientific Awards of Excellence which have recently been established to reward outstanding original contributions or achievements that mark a major advance or contribution to the Earth Sciences. Each IUGS […]
Save Siccar Point
An issue of huge importance to the history of geology is the recent proposal to build an outfall pipe for agricultural waste adjacent to Siccar Point where James Hutton’s famous ‘Unconformity’ is so well exposed in the sea cliff. An avalanche of objections to the planning application has landed on the Scottish Borders Council from […]