Early Geology

Early Geology - 12 April - Radio 4
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the emergence of geology - the study of the Earth, its history and composition. Although geology only emerged as a separate area of study in the late 18th century, many earlier thinkers had studied rocks, fossils and the materials from which the Earth is made. But how did such haphazard study of rocks and fossils develop into a rigorous scientific discipline? Melvyn Bragg is joined by Stephen Pumfrey, Senior Lecturer in the History of Science at Lancaster University; Andrew Scott, Professor of Applied Palaeobotany at Royal Holloway, University of London and Leucha Veneer, Research Associate at the Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine at the University of Manchester.
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