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SUMMARY:Dr Woodward's Cabinet of Dangerous Dreams: Geology in the Age of E
 nlightenment - Dr Kenneth McNamara (University of Cambridge)
DTSTART:20160222T170000Z
DTEND:20160222T180000Z
UID:TALK62375@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Matouš Ptáček
DESCRIPTION:When John Woodward died in 1728\, in his sixtieth year\, he le
 ft a will that for geology was to resonate to the present day. Not only di
 d he leave £150 for the establishment of a professorship\, still in exist
 ence today\, but he also willed the University of Cambridge his precious g
 eological collection. Although Professor of Physick at Gresham College\, g
 eology became Woodward's passion. His collection of rocks\, minerals and f
 ossils lead him to write his 'Natural History of the Earth' in 1695\, a wo
 rk notable as much for\, to us\, its bizarre explanation for the formation
  of rocks\, as for its basis in observation and experimentation.\n\nWoodwa
 rd was the first true geologist\, inventing a classification of rocks\, mi
 nerals and fossils that was used through much of the 18th century\, and la
 ying the foundation for geology as a modern science. Unfortunately\, becau
 se of his acerbic nature\, he was much maligned by his contemporaries – 
 an 'egregious coxcomb'\, one called him. To Richard Mead\, whom he fought 
 in a duel over a disagreement on how to treat smallpox\, he was 'a man equ
 ally ill-bred\, vain and ill-natured'. Despite such sword fights\, being p
 illoried in satirical plays and pamphlets\, and being accused of plagiaris
 m\, Woodward emerges as a man of vision and responsible for dragging geolo
 gy out of the Dark Ages and into the Age of Enlightenment. 
LOCATION:Harker Room 1\, Department of Earth Sciences
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