Synopses & Reviews
Henry Darwin Rogers was one of the first professional geologists in the United States. He directed two of the earliest state geological surveys--New Jersey and Pennsylvania--in the mid-1830s.and#160; His major interest was Pennsylvania, with its Appalachian Mountains, which Rogers saw as great folds of sedimentary rock. He belived that an interpretation of these folds would lead to an understanding of the dynamic processes that had shaped the earth. From Rogers' efforts to explain these Pennsylvania folds came the first uniquely American theory of mountain elevation, a theory that Rogers personally considered his most significant achievement.
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Review
"Patsy Gerstner ably and clearly presents geologist Henry Darwin Rogers and his professional aspirations, most notably his successes and frustrations with the Pennsylvania Geological Survey, in the context of the scientific institutions and rivalries of his day."
and#151;Anne Millbrooke, University of Hartford.
Review
"Meticulously documented, this life of Henry Darwin Rogers demonstrates the challenges of geological research in the formative period of theory building, at a time when there were no policies and only unclear precedents governing science at the state level."
The Journal of American History
Gerstner excels in describing the growing pains of the fledgling American scientific community in the mid-nineteenth century complete with its squabbling, backbiting, jealousies, and intricate pecking order
. The scholarship is impeccable, and for a student of American nineteenth-century geology, the bibliography is valuable.”
Journal of the Early Republic
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. 289-304) and index.
About the Author
Patsy Gerstner is Chief Curator, Historical Division, Cleveland Health Sciences Library, and Adjunct Associate Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University.