A Stratigraphical System of Organized Fossils: With Reference to the Specimens of the Original Geological Collection in the British Museum (Cambridge Library Collection – Earth Science)

William Smith (1768-1839) was a civil engineer and canal surveyor known as the ‘Father of Geology’ who developed and pioneered the concept of stratigraphy. Through his work with canal building Smith become familiar with many different types of rock throughout Britain. He realized that fossils were specific to a certain strata of rock and that rock strata could be identified and correlated by the fossils they contained. Smith used this knowledge to publish the renowned first geological map of Britain in 1815. This volume, first published in 1817, contains Smith’s catalogue of his fossil collection for the British Museum. Smith catalogues the fossils according to the rock strata and location in which they were found, together with a brief description of the fossil. This volume was the first published example of rock strata used as a cataloguing principle which demonstrated the practical nature of Smith’s system of stratigraphy.