Description
'An irresistible biography of one of Oxford's most colourful characters.' John Hedley Brooke In 1824, William Buckland stood in front of the Royal Geological Society and told them about the bones he had been studying - the bones of an enormous, lizard-like creature, that he called Megalosaurus. This was the first full account of a dinosaur. During his life, Buckland would also demonstrate changes in the earth's climate, champion health reform, wage war on slum landlords, and become infamous for eating everything he could, even a mummified human heart. Yet his name has been largely, and unjustly, forgotten. In this brilliantly entertaining, colourful biography - the first to be written for over a century - Allan Chapman brings William Buckland back into the light and explores his fascinating life in full. From his pioneering of geology and agricultural science to becoming Dean of Westminster, Caves, Coprolites and Catastrophes reveals a giant of intellect whose achievements helped revolutionise the British scientific community. Carefully balancing Buckland's more eccentric escapades with his scientific prowess and the clash between science and religion in the 19th Century, Caves, Coprolites and Catastrophes is vivid, informative and thoroughly compelling. A captivating story packed full of compelling insights into the world of Victorian science and its relationship with the Christian faith, Caves, Coprolites and Catastrophes is an unmissable biography of an exceptional scientist whose legacy extends down to this day.
Caves, Coprolites and Catastrophes is a vivid and entertaining biography that tells the story of William Buckland, Victorian fossil-hunter extraordinaire and the founder of the science of geology.
About the Author
Dr Allan Chapman is a historian of science at Oxford University, with special interests in the history of astronomy and of medicine and the relationship between science and Christianity. As well as University teaching, he lectures widely, has written a dozen books and numerous academic articles, and written and presented two TV series, Gods in the Sky and Great Scientists, besides taking part in many other history of science TVdocumentaries and in The Sky at Night with Sir Patrick Moore. He has received honorary doctorates and awards from the Universities of Central Lancashire, Salford, and Lancaster, and in 2015 was presented with the Jackson-Gwilt Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. Among his books are Slaying the Dragons. Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith (Lion Hudson, 2013), Stargazers: Copernicus, Galileo, the Telescope,and the Church. The Astronomical Renaissance, 1500-1700 (Lion, 2014), and Physicians, Plagues, and Progress. The History of Western Medicine from Antiquity to Antibiotics (Lion, 2016). He is also the author of thescientific biographies England's Leonardo. Robert Hooke and the Seventeenth-Century Scientific Revolution (Institute of Physics, 2005), Mary Somerville and the World of Science (Canopus, 2004; Springer, 2015), and The Victorian Amateur Astronomer. Independent Astronomical Research in Britain, 1820-1920 (Wiley-Praxis, 1998; revised edn. Gracewing, 2017).
Reviews
'Allan Chapman has written an irresistible biography of one of Oxford's most colourful characters, the pioneer and populariser of paleontology William Buckland. A gifted and amusing speaker, Buckland captivated large audiences with lost worlds of prehistoric creatures, reconstructed from fossil fragments. An Anglican priest, Canon of Oxford's cathedral and eventually, in 1845, Dean of Westminster, Buckland resolutely applied his scientific knowledge in the service of Christian philanthropy. Dr Chapman shares with his subject a proven ability to mix instruction with entertainment, but never to the detriment of two serious aims: to rescue Buckland from caricatures that have allowed his early writings on the scope of Noah's flood to obscure his many durable contributions to geology and, secondly, to show that, as one standing in a long line of clerical scientists, he saw the earth sciences as magnifying, not threatening, the grandeur of God's creation.' * John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford (1999-2006) *
'With sustained brio Allan Chapman restores the charismatic William Buckland to his rightful place in the scientific pantheon of the nineteenth century as a key figure in the peculiar genius of English life. As importantly, Chapman expertly navigates the historical currents that swept Buckland and his contemporaries to astonishing new insights into deep time, but never at the expense of their deep Christian conviction.' * Simon Conway Morris FRS, Emeritus Professor of Paleantology, University of Cambridge *
'William Buckland was a remarkable and fascinating character who played a major part in the development of Geology as a new and important science. Allan Chapman explores the tensions that existed within Victorian Society between the development of scientific ideas and religious beliefs about the creation of the world and the evolution of life, and provides vivid descriptions of the key characters involved in these debates. He also shows the significant role that Buckland played in the cleaning up of Victorian cities and improving the health of those living in them. In all, a very engaging, informative and enjoyable read!' * Martin Grossel, Emeritus Fellow in Organic Chemistry, University of Southampton *
Book Information
ISBN 9780281079513
Author Dr Allan Chapman
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint SPCK Publishing
Publisher SPCK Publishing
Caves, Coprolites and Catastrophes is a vivid and entertaining biography that tells the story of William Buckland, Victorian fossil-hunter extraordinaire and the founder of the science of geology.
About the Author
Dr Allan Chapman is a historian of science at Oxford University, with special interests in the history of astronomy and of medicine and the relationship between science and Christianity. As well as University teaching, he lectures widely, has written a dozen books and numerous academic articles, and written and presented two TV series, Gods in the Sky and Great Scientists, besides taking part in many other history of science TVdocumentaries and in The Sky at Night with Sir Patrick Moore. He has received honorary doctorates and awards from the Universities of Central Lancashire, Salford, and Lancaster, and in 2015 was presented with the Jackson-Gwilt Medal by the Royal Astronomical Society. Among his books are Slaying the Dragons. Destroying Myths in the History of Science and Faith (Lion Hudson, 2013), Stargazers: Copernicus, Galileo, the Telescope,and the Church. The Astronomical Renaissance, 1500-1700 (Lion, 2014), and Physicians, Plagues, and Progress. The History of Western Medicine from Antiquity to Antibiotics (Lion, 2016). He is also the author of thescientific biographies England's Leonardo. Robert Hooke and the Seventeenth-Century Scientific Revolution (Institute of Physics, 2005), Mary Somerville and the World of Science (Canopus, 2004; Springer, 2015), and The Victorian Amateur Astronomer. Independent Astronomical Research in Britain, 1820-1920 (Wiley-Praxis, 1998; revised edn. Gracewing, 2017).
Reviews
'Allan Chapman has written an irresistible biography of one of Oxford's most colourful characters, the pioneer and populariser of paleontology William Buckland. A gifted and amusing speaker, Buckland captivated large audiences with lost worlds of prehistoric creatures, reconstructed from fossil fragments. An Anglican priest, Canon of Oxford's cathedral and eventually, in 1845, Dean of Westminster, Buckland resolutely applied his scientific knowledge in the service of Christian philanthropy. Dr Chapman shares with his subject a proven ability to mix instruction with entertainment, but never to the detriment of two serious aims: to rescue Buckland from caricatures that have allowed his early writings on the scope of Noah's flood to obscure his many durable contributions to geology and, secondly, to show that, as one standing in a long line of clerical scientists, he saw the earth sciences as magnifying, not threatening, the grandeur of God's creation.' * John Hedley Brooke, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford (1999-2006) *
'With sustained brio Allan Chapman restores the charismatic William Buckland to his rightful place in the scientific pantheon of the nineteenth century as a key figure in the peculiar genius of English life. As importantly, Chapman expertly navigates the historical currents that swept Buckland and his contemporaries to astonishing new insights into deep time, but never at the expense of their deep Christian conviction.' * Simon Conway Morris FRS, Emeritus Professor of Paleantology, University of Cambridge *
'William Buckland was a remarkable and fascinating character who played a major part in the development of Geology as a new and important science. Allan Chapman explores the tensions that existed within Victorian Society between the development of scientific ideas and religious beliefs about the creation of the world and the evolution of life, and provides vivid descriptions of the key characters involved in these debates. He also shows the significant role that Buckland played in the cleaning up of Victorian cities and improving the health of those living in them. In all, a very engaging, informative and enjoyable read!' * Martin Grossel, Emeritus Fellow in Organic Chemistry, University of Southampton *
Book Information
ISBN 9780281079513
Author Dr Allan Chapman
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint SPCK Publishing
Publisher SPCK Publishing
