The map that changed the world
by Simon Winchester · first published 2001
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100% recommend
Why HN recommends it
Narrative history of geology's early days, centered on William Smith and his first geological map of England. It traces how the science and its data-gathering developed.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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For anyone interested in the deeper story, The Simon Winchester book, "The Map that Changed the World", referred to in the article is a good read.
on “Seminal geology map rediscovered” ↗John McPhee: Annals of the former world, Simon Winchester: The Map that Changed the World, Lutgens et al.: Essentials of Geology
on “Ancient Earth Globe” ↗…just plain weird. Science does indeed proceed this way, bottom up, from measuring anything and everything of interest (to someone - maybe not to most of us, but to someone - I invite you to read The Map that Changed the World). Science also proceeds from the top down, from theory to measurement. But often because there was another theory that failed to align with existing measurement. Think general relativity and its better…
on “Eating chocolate is associated with improved brain function” ↗I enjoyed "The Map That Changed The World", which is the story of how the study of geology developed during the Industrial period of England. It's the story of William Smith, one of the first people to identify strata formations in coal mines…
on “Obama's Secret Weapon In The South is 129 Million Years Old” ↗…that was "Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World's Superpowers". Previous books of his include "The Map That Changed the World" about the first geologic map of Britain", "The Meaning of Everything" about the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary, and "Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded". Good listens, all.
on “Ask HN: What is your favorite audio book?” ↗Reminds me of The Map that Changed the World ([1]), a map of England drawn by a professional canal digger who had noticed and documented strata throughout England, Wales, and southern Scotland. It was essentially the first geological map and led…
on “How One Woman's Discovery Shook the Foundations of Geology” ↗