PUBLICATION IN AMERICAN GEOLOGY TO 1850

Robert Hazen

Carnegie Instiutution of Washington Geophysical Laboratory 2801 Upton Street, NW

Washington, D.C. 20008

Abstract

Activity in American earth science increased at an exponential rate from 1780 through 1850, on the basis of the number of geologic publications recorded in the Bibliography of American-Published Geology: 1669 to 1850. Subdisciplines of earth science, such as vertebrate paleontology, mineralogy, and field mapping, grew in a regular succession of stages. At first, publication was sporadic be­cause natural phenomena were observed but not understood in a larger framework. A key work, such as a new theory or classification scheme that succeeded in unifying isolated observations, stimulated a period of exponential increase in activity as many researchers were shown a clear direction to pursue. In some fields , the publication rate eventually slowed down and then reached zero as the objectives of a research tradition were met or a new competing program was more successful. The overall exponential increase of activity in geology was the net result of several subdisciplines being in various stages of growth.

Key Words: History of Geology, Geology-literature and libraries.

Introduction A hallmark of Western science

for the past three hundred years has been a steady increase in activity of the scientific com­munity . Price (1961, 1963) de­veloped a method to characterize .and quantify this scientific ac­tivity by analyzing the number of ,published references, authors, or

as a measurement of the h of science. This tech-called bibliometrics, can be

ed to early American geo-. With the 14,000 entries in Bibliography of American­

",,~,HQlhDri Geology: 1669 to 1850 and Hazen, 1976, 1980) as

data base, one can investigate fast and in what stages earth

grew in America. Other factors besides publica­

including private corres­pondence, scientific meetings, .advanced education, and outside funding, are also of obvious importance in assessing the nature

scientific activity. Further­in certain aspects of

science, particularly those relating to technological develop­ments and scientific apparatus, the published literature may not be an adequate guide to advance­ments. In spite of these addi­tional factors in measuring the activity of the scientific com­munity, publication (the per­manent record of scientific achievements) can be used as a

sensitive measure of scientific effort.

Before quantifying scientific effort one should examine what types of activities are represented in geologic publications. Many authors engaged in original re­search and contributed new data, new facts, or new hypotheses. Many publications such as text­books and book reviews contain syntheses of information from other sources. A large number of popular articles and books on earth science, which appeared in America after 1820, reflect attempts of scientists to dissemi­nate geologic information to the general public. The many facetS­of scientific activity should be kept in mind when viewing the simple growth curves of the subsequent sections.

The activity of geologic re­search has been measured by counting the number of articles, books, maps, and other works relating to earth science published in America versus time. No attempt has been made to weight the relative significance of these publications; such an attempt at weighting would violate the inherent objectivity of the biblio­metric method. Each of the 14,000 entries in the Bibliography of American-Published Geology: 1669 to 1850 has thus been counted as one publication in the following illustrations.

The number of earth science publications versus date is illus­trated in Figures 1a and lb. Before 1800, publication was sporadic. A few chance events such as the New England earth­quakes of 1727 and 1755, and occasional periodical volumes controlled the rate of publi­cation. Geology articles appeared regularly only after 1780. By 1800, however, the annual publi­cation level grew rapidly and in 1850 almost 1000 references are to be found. The cumulative growth of American earth science is perhaps best illustrated by a semi-logarithmic plot of number of references versus year (Fi­gure 2). The cumulative total of references closely approximates an ideal exponential curve, with a doubling rate of ten years; between 1780 and 1850, each decade saw the production of a volume of geologic literature equal to all that had been pro­duced before.

A similar rate of increase is seen in the number of Americans who published earth science books, articles or maps per year from 1780 through 1850 (Figure 3). The number of named authors in a given year may be signifi­cantly less than the number of publications due to unsigned works, foreign authors, and multiple publications by a single author. The period of doubling for

Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, P 249

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Figure 1. Number of American-published earth science books, pamphlets, maps, and periodical articles versus time. (a) 1660-1800, (b) 1800-1850. Note that the vertical scale of Ib is fifteen times greater than 1a.

Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28 , P 250

the yearly (not cumulative) num­ber of geologic authors is ap­proximately 15 years, which is significantly shorter than the 24-year doubling period of the American population. The propor­tion of Americans who published geologic studies, therefore, in­creased dramatically in the first half of the nineteenth century from 4 to 13 named authors per million population in the United States (Figure 4).

The exponential increase in geologic activity represented in Figures 1 through 4, though strik­ing, has been typical of all Western science for nearly three centuries. Price (1963) illustrates similar growth in nu mbers of periodicals, abstracts, authors, and universities. Typical doubling periods for other sciences have been 10 to 15 years. The growth of science thus far has outpaced the increase in world population. As emphasized by Price, such rapid growth cannot be main­tained indefinitely.

The Mechanism of Scientific Growth

One way to understand why activity in geology grew expo­nentially is to examine the development of individual sub­disciplines. One such subset of geologic investigations is mapping based on field studies. The num­ber of geologic maps produced in the United States per decade, shown in Figure 5, is a clear example of an exponential in­crease. The reason for this rapid growth is the dominant influence of the map of William Maclure (1809), which set an example for subsequent authors to follow. At a time when few authors cited any previous literature, virtually all mappers in the twenty years after Maclure credit him. Maclure's map was a key work that estab­lished a new research tradition in the United States. (European geologists of the time were well aware of geologic mapping, but in . America Maclure's map was the first widely recognized model.)

The idea of a key work estab­lishing a research tradition is also apparent in early American verte­brate paleontology (Figure. 6). Before 1820 publication was sporadic. As unusual fossil bones were discovered they were publicized, but fossils were not described in any systematic way, for there was' no well known

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Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, P 251

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classification scheme for organic remains. George Cuvier's Essay on the Theory of the Earth, pub­lished in an American edition in 1818, was perhaps the first work to present systematic paleontol­ogy to America. It seems more than coincidental that the .expo­nential rise in studies of verte­brate (and invertebrate) fossils. followed shortly after the publica­tion of Cuvier's text.

Not all fields show con­tinuously increasing publication rates. Medical topography, intro­duced in America by Samuel Latham Mitchill (1799), was the study of the relationship between types of bedrock and the preva­lence of disease. An important conclusion of medical topography was that calcareous terrains make more healthy places to live than those underlain by argillaceous sediments (Hazen, 1978, Chapter 3). The number of studies in medical topography grew rapidly in the first decades of the nine­teenth century (Figure 7). Physi­cians and naturalists (especially those from calcareous regions of New York and near Cincinnati) published many local studies based on Mitchill's ideas. By the 1840's, however, the ideas of medical topography were no longer widely accepted, and a sharp drop in the number of studies is seen. This pattern of a key publication, followed by an exponential rise in number of investigations, a pla­teau, and an eventual tailing off is a commonly recurrent sequence in the development of science.

Descriptive mineralogy pro­vides yet another example of subdiscipline growth in American earth science (Figure 8), but the pattern .. here is more complex . The overall trend is a rapid in­crease in number of yearly publi­cations, but there are definite spurts of activity following the publication of what were perhaps the three most important American mineralogy texts prior to 1850. The steep rises just before 1800, 1820, and 1840 correspond to American publica­tion of the Compendious System of Mineralogy (Anon., 1794), Cleaveland's (1816) Elementary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology, and Dana's (1837) System of Mineralogy. The Compendious System, based in part on a work by Swedish mineralogist Axel Cronstedt, was the first syste­matic classification of minerals published in the United States. It

Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, P 252

is not clear whether it spurred the growth of American mineralogy by providing a standard of re­ference, or whether it merely reflected the new-found interest of Philadelphia chemists in miner­alogy (Green and Burke, 1978). Cleaveland's Treatise was ex­tremely influential. This first American-authored mineral sys­tem used a combination of chemi­cal and physical tests for mineral identification that were well suited for application by American researchers. Dana's System, a third key work, com­bined chemical, physical and crystallographic properties of minerals into a system of classifi­cation which met with over­whelming success and is still in use today. Once again the key work was followed by a period of great publication activity as new workers learned and applied the classification scheme.

In the preceding discussion, key publications, rather than key events, have been emphasized as stimulating scientific activity. Unusual phenomena or events commonly result in temporary surges of publications. Great numbers of pamphlets appeared following the eighteenth century New England earthquakes (Figure la), for example, and the mid­nineteenth century discovery of gold in California triggered another wave of topical publica­tions. Events by themselves, however, do not generally inspire the exponential rise of effort seen following key works. Any star­tling natural event or discovery must first be interpreted in the light of existing research tradi­tions. Should a new key idea be inspired by the event then a new research tradition may begin, but lacking such a key publication, interest in the event will quickly pass.

The first manned lunar landing is an example of an event that inspired much new research, but did not, by itself, result in expo­nential growth. Virtually all lunar research was approached initially from the standpoint of well­established (j .e. fundable) re­search traditions. In fact, one of the major rationales for studying

• the moon was to provide data on the origin and evolution of the earth. Scientists thus seem constrained to approach new events from the standpoint of existing research objectives and concepts.

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Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, p 253

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research tradition or the success of new competing programs. This mature period in the development of a subdiscipline is often a time when technological applications of the field are pursued.

(5) A few last proponents of any research tradition keep working after most others have changed directions. These last proponents, though often prominent scientists, may have little impact on the course of science.

Conclusions

The growth of early American geology was apparently the net result of overlapping research programs. At any given time the many subdisciplines of the earth sciences may have been in dif­ferent stages of growth, but the sum of these efforts was steady, exponential increase in activity. Does this growth model hold today? Certainly the curve of key works, rapid growth, saturation, and eventual decline of sub­disciplines is still valid in the earth sciences. Modern examples of subdisciplines which have progressed through at least two of the various stages of growth are plate tectonics, paleoecology, descriptive mineralogy, and iso­tope geochemistry. Extrapolation of data in Figure 1 to 1980, however, implies an absurd annual American geological production of

Figure 8. Number of publications in descriptive mineralogy versus time, more than 1,000,000 publi-1780-1850. Three periods of rapid growth are seen following publication cations. (The total number of of key classification schemes in 1794, 1816, and 1837. references in the Bibliography of

Idealized Growth of Science

A recurrent pattern of activity is evident in the development of

. each specific subdiscipline des­cribed above. Five growth stages may be recognized in the period from 1660 to 1850: (1) First may come a period of

sporadic observations as in paleontology or miner-alogy. This happens when natural phenomena are observed but are not under­stood in a larger framework such as a classification scheme.

(2) A key work that presents a new research procedure or classification system marks

(3)

(4)

the true beginning of a research tradition. This work may be largely new (such as Cuvier's Essay) or it may introduce an estab­lished concept to a new audience (e.g. Maclure's geologic map). A period of exponential activity follows as many new workers join in adding data and refining the re­search tradition. This stage of growth may be an excit­ing time of rapid discovery and development. Growth in activity must slow down and may even­tually stop due to comple­tion of the objectives of a

North American Geology for 1978 was less than 50,000.) The exponential growth rate of geo­logic activity has clearly slowed. Is American earth science en­tering a period of reduced growth, of leveling off? Analysis of the current activity and directions of the earth sciences may help us to understand and plan the future of geology in America.

Acknowledgements

This paper was first given at the G.K. Gilbert Symposium at the 1979 Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America in San Diego, California. Many helpful additions and corrections

Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, P 254

were suggested by Henry Faul, Stephen Gould, Clifford Nelson, Cecil Schneer, George White, and Hatten S. Yoder, Jr.

About .the A.uthor Robert M._ Hazen, experimen­

tal mineralogist · at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Geo­physical -Laboratory, received the

-B.8. and , S.M. .in geology ' at Massachusetts Institute of Tech­nology in1971,and the Ph.D. in mineralogy at Harvard University in 1975. Prior to joining the Carnegie Institution he ' was a NATO Fellow at Cambridge University, in. :England. -Hisre-

~search , interests -inclUde high­'teJnperature "and high-lpressure -crystallography and the .. crystal chemistry . of < rock-forilling

~ r!iirlerals,_ as we:llasthe<history of North . American-, .• ~eo19gy. .... In

~addition,/_ asa '-par~ 4 time .proies­, slOrl~l . ti'J:ltnpeter,Dr;Hazenhas " ~~rf orm E.@' .......... ¥"itti- \flpmerOusen-~seJnbles inClUdlrlg' the Boston -and N'ational y ;8ympnony orchestras.

References Cited

Anonymous, 1794, Compendious System of Mineralogy: Philadel­phia, T. Dobson, 505 p.

Cleaveland, P., 1816, An Elemen­tary Treatise on Mineralogy and Geology: Boston, Cummings and Hilliard, 668 p.

Cuvier, G., 1818, Essay on the Theory of the Earth: New York, Kirk and Mercein, 431 p.

Green, J.C., and Burke, J.G., 1978, The science of minerals in the age of Jefferson: American Philosophical Society Transactions 68, part 4,113 p.

Hazen, R.M., 1978, North American Geology; Early Writ­ings: Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, 376 p.

Hazen, R.M., and Hazen, M.H., 1976, Bibliography of American-

Published Geology: 1669 to 1850: Geological Society of America, Microform Publication 4, 979 p.

Hazen, R.M., and Hazen, M.H., 1980, American Geological Liter­ature; A Bibliography and Index: Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, Dowden, Hutchinson, and Ross, 431 p.

Maclure, W., 1809, A map of the United States: in Observations on the geology of the United States: American Philosophical Society Transactions 6, 411-428.

Mitchill, S.L., 1799, Outlines of medical geology: Medical Reposi­tory 2, 39-47.

Price, D. de Solla, 1961, Science Since Babylon: New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 230 p.

Price, D. de Solla, 1963, Little Science, Big Science: New York, Columbia University Press, 119 p.

CLASSROOM MODEL OF A WADATI ZONE

James H. Shea

University of Wisconsin-Parkside Kenosha Wisconsin 53141

Abstract

A plexiglass and aluminum model of a Wadati zone suitable for classroom exercises is described. Use of the model involves locating the appropriate hole in a latitude-longitude grid on top of the model, inserting an aluminum rod to the appropriate scaled depth to represent a particular earthquake hypocenter and following this procedure for many hypocenters. The model can then be viewed from any position around the sides so that the Wadati plane is seen as a line. The model can be easily adapted for other exercises or demonstrations in structural geology, petroleum geology, mineral deposits, etc.

Key words: Apparatus, earth science teaching-laboratory, geophysics-seismology, plate tectonics.

Introduction The Model

Following up on a mathematical and graphical modelling exercise that was developed some years ago (Shea, 1973), I recently developed a three­dimensional physical model of Wadati (see Wadati, 1928) zones suitable for classroom use. The model allows students to test the hypothesis that earth­quake hypocenters near oceanic trenches tend to

., occur along planes that dip away from the trenches, toward the associated island arc (e.g., the Aleutian Arc) or continental mountain chain (e.g., the Andes Mountains). The procedure followed is relatively simple and yields a result that is visually convincing, yet indicative of observational uncertainty.

The model is basically a box constructed of .25 inch (nominal) (.64 cm) plexiglass sides with a .5 inch (nominal) (1.3 cm) top and no bottom. Plexiglass was chosen because of its strength, easy workability, and transparency. The sides of the box are about 23 inches (58.4 cm) wide and about 24 inches (61 cm) high. The top was made 24 inches (61 cm) square so that it protrudes beyond the sides, thus allowing the sides to be fitted into .25 inch (.64 cm) deep grooves cut into the underside of the top. The top and sides are also bolted to each other by the use of plexiglass blocks as shown in Figure 1. The box can be easily disassembled for storage.

Journal of Geological Education, 1980, v. 28, P 255