Kenneth L. Taylor
Ashgate
Hardback
332
2008
This volume is concerned with the geological sciences in the 18th century with special emphasis on France and French scientists. One focus is on the pioneering geologist Nicolas Desmarest whose investigations in Auvergne and Italy (among other places) had important consequences in both theory and practice. Widening his inquiry beyond Desmarest Professor Taylor also endeavors to recover key elements of the presuppositions and thought-patterns of Enlightenment geologists and to discern how geological investigation worked during this formative period. Many of the participants are seen as struggling to define their scientific objectives and procedures by drawing from the competing frameworks of physique or natural philosophy descriptive natural history and antiquarian scholarship or developmental history.
Ashgate
Hardback
332
2008
This volume is concerned with the geological sciences in the 18th century with special emphasis on France and French scientists. One focus is on the pioneering geologist Nicolas Desmarest whose investigations in Auvergne and Italy (among other places) had important consequences in both theory and practice. Widening his inquiry beyond Desmarest Professor Taylor also endeavors to recover key elements of the presuppositions and thought-patterns of Enlightenment geologists and to discern how geological investigation worked during this formative period. Many of the participants are seen as struggling to define their scientific objectives and procedures by drawing from the competing frameworks of physique or natural philosophy descriptive natural history and antiquarian scholarship or developmental history.