The Map That Changed the World

Posted on 19 February 2018 by Simon Winchester

In 1793, a canal digger named William Smith made a startling discovery He found that by tracing the placement of fossils, which he uncovered in his excavations, one could follow layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world making it possible, for the first time ever, to draw a chart of the hidden underside of the earth Determined to expose what he realized was the landscape s secret fourth dimension, Smith spent twenty two years piecing together the fragments of this unseen universe to create an epochal and remarkably beautiful hand painted map But instead of receiving accolades and honors, he ended up in debtors prison, the victim of plagiarism, and virtually homeless for ten years Finally, in 1831, this quiet genius now known as the father of modern geology received the Geological Society of London s highest award and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension The Map That Changed the World is a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man s dedication in the face of ruin With a keen eye and thoughtful detail, Simon Winchester unfolds the poignant sacrifice behind this world changing discovery. Read The Map That Changed the World by Simon Winchester – kino-fada.fr The official blurb says it the best In 1793, a canal digger named William Smith made a startling discovery He found that by tracing the placement of fossils, which he uncovered in his excavations, one could follow layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world making it possible, for the first time ever, to draw a chart of the hid...This is the third Winchester book I ve read in quick succession and I m almost tempted to say that they just get better and better except they probably don t I think they are all equally good This one is about the father of English Geology If the advance of knowledge really does depend on the geniuses who can see patterns where for the rest of us see only chaos then William Smith is precisely that kind of genius a man who gets it and forever changes how we see the world.I ll admit...I seemed to have the same problems with this one that I did with The Professor and the Madman The subject matter sounds interesting, but enough for a book longer than a pamphlet In the first couple of chapters Winchester blew his wad, so to speak, giving the complete rundown of Smith s lower class roots a blacksmith s son , his geological discovery and the implications, his shunning by The Higher Classes of Geology, and his final days of anonym...This is a very interesting story poorly told The preface and the first chapter both tell the whole story in a nutshell, and the rest of the book goes on to fill out the details in an awkward, often overblown manner The story is however quite compelling, about the dramatic life of William Smith, the first person to understand, survey and then map the stratification of rocks in England, thereby establishing modern geology His is a cautionary tale for would be entrepreneurs that are not from t This is a very interesting story poorly told The preface and the first chapter both tell the whole story in a nutshell, and the rest of the book goes on to fill out the details in an awkward, often overblown manner The story is however quite compelling, about the dramatic life of William Smith, the first person to understand, survey and then map the stratification of rocks in England, thereby establishing modern geology His is a cautionary tale fo...Winchester s biography of William Smith, one of the fathers of English geology, should sing with the joy of intellectual discovery, but doesn t quite get there for me.From the start, Winchester flags the collapse of Smith s fortunes and the misappropriation of his findings by wealthier, better connected men than he He builds anticipation of misfortune throughout until the bailiffs actually arrive and Smith is imprisoned for debt When it actually happens it is almost a relief, as the long way Winchester s biography of William Smith, one of the fathers of English geology, should sing with the joy of intellectual discovery, but doesn t quite get there for me.From the start, Winchester flags the collapse of Smith s fortunes and the misappropriation of his findings by wealthier, better connected men than he He builds anticipation of misfortune throughout until the bailiffs actually arrive and Smith is imprisoned for debt When it actually happens it is almost a relief, as the long way down has been an exhausting journey For me, this overweighs excitement at the significance of Smith s realisations that the laying down of fossils in different strata of England s landscape marked the beginning of a mo...Rocks They re old.Thank you for reading my review.OK, I guess I ll go into slightlydetail In his phenomenal A Short History of Nearly Everything , Bill Bryson devotes slightly less than a page to William Smith and the first geological map of Britain This is likely a result of Bryson or his editors striving in vain to meet that promise of being short Bryson promises us acomprehensive account in The Map That Changed the World I didn t actually find this book through A Short Rocks They re old.Thank you for reading my review.OK, I guess I ll go into slightlydetail In his phenomenal A Short History of Nearly Everything , Bill Bryson devotes slightly less than a page to William Smith and the first geological map of Britain This is likely a result of Bryson or his editors striving in vain to meet that promise of being short Bryson promises us acomprehensive account in The Map That Changed the World I didn t actually find this book through A Short History of Nearly Everything I only saw the reference when I went back to look up what...Though the writing style is not quite what his other books have been, I have to give it 4 stars for a thoroughly interesting trek through the world of eccentric 19thC English science I love this period s history of scientific exploration and the pure enthusiasm and fearlessness and determination of many of the explorations into hitherto unknown realms Geology was practically brand new except for elite, upper class fossil, mineral and rock collectors who met occasionally at elaborate dinner par Though the writing style is not quite what his other books have been, I have to give it 4 stars for a thoroughly interesting trek through the world of eccentric 19thC English science I love this period s history of scientific exploration and the pure enthusiasm and fearlessness and determination of many of the explorations into hitherto unknown realms Geology was practically brand new except for elite, upper class fossil, mineral and rock collectors who met occasionally at elaborate d...I have been reading this book for over a year The story is fascinating Winchester has the most irritating writing style I have ever encountered It is hard to force myself to pick up the book Sad, because William Smith and his geologic map of England mark an important milestone in the history of science They are also important to understanding the development of the concept of deep time Creationists are often stymi...When I was a New York manny before moving to western MA to go to grad school one of the families I worked for gave me this book I think I was probably supposed to return it, but wound up having to leave NY in a hurry because of a health and then a housing situation So I still have this on my non fiction shelves and every once in a while pick it up and flip through the pages and think about the discovery such a loaded and often unwieldy term of the consistent and patterned behavior of ear When I was a New York manny before moving to western MA to go to grad school one of the families I w...This is truly a beautifull homage for a man who gained recognition for his work very late in his own life This is a scientific non fiction book, but the way it is told it reads like a great adventure novel of the quest towards a geological map , which is in my opinion has been a very good choice to tell the story Also it is obvious that the author is a fan of William Smith and his work which made this a very happy book to read because the author has so much compassions for Smith s trials.Beca This is truly a beautifull homage for a man who gained recognition for his work very late in his own life This is a scientific non fiction book, but the way it is told it reads like a great adventure novel of the quest towards a geological map , which is in my opinion has been a very good choice to tell the story Also it is obvious that the author is a fan of William Smith and his work which made this a very happy book to r...

English
19 February 2018

Simon Winchester