Calendars of the Earth: History of geological timescales from 1500-1900

Print on Demand version available via http://www.linguaterraebooks.nl - During much of the 19^th century the study of Earth’s history was a key scientific endeavour. Individual investigations mostly focussed on establishing the sequence of geological events and periods in a specific region. In addition, the possible duration of those events and periods was commonly also considered. This resulted in the development of tabular schemes, as well as their visualization in the form of geological timescales (‘tables’ or ‘calendars’), which were typically of regional relevance only. These studies relied on the systematic examination of rocks and fossils, including the development of structured methods to record, organize and communicate geological information in textual, tabular and pictorial formats.
From humble beginnings in the form of a variety of disconnected, either discontinuous or overlapping regional stratigraphic schemes, these had by the end of the 19^th century matured into a standard geological timescale (SGTS). The development of a widely accepted SGTS was a major achievement by the earth scientists of the 19^th century. This major achievement was accompanied by emergence of several formal geological subdisciplines.