The Geology

▷ Short introduction of the history of #geology

Geology appeared very late in history, unlike other sciences such as astronomy or mathematics, known since ancient times. The concept of geology was first mentioned by René Descartes in the Théorie de la Terre (1644). A century later, Nicolas Sténon published the principles of stratigraphy: it is the beginning of the modern geology. In 1795, James Hutton, another founding father, defined the concept of "deep" time and published it in Theory of Earth. He was the first to hypothesize that the Earth's formation processes last since very long time (a lot longer than 6,000 years) and are still going on.

It was not until the early 19th century that geology was recognized as a science. Since then, publications have multiplied and many discoveries have been made. The 1960s were marked by a revolutionary advance in scientific thought. Alfred Wegener’s theory of continental drift in 1912 began to gain acceptance by the community, which had been rejected by a majority of geologists and all geophysicists of the time.

Derived from the Ancient Greek words γῆ (Earth) and λογία (study), Geology delves into the study of Earth's structure, evolution , and dynamics.

Geology embodies both field exploration and laboratory investigation, uniting diverse subject areas under its umbrella.

The areas of application are various and essential for the society:

• exploration of raw materials: oil, gas, coal, earth rares... & development of renewable energies: sun, wind, biomass, geothermal...

• enhancement and securing the human environment: infrastructure implementations and planning, water exploration or natural disaster risking...

• and more generally, engage in scientific research.