Dutch Pioneers in Earth Sciences

The papers collected in this volume, given at a Dutch history of science symposium, present a historical survey of Dutch contributions to earth science. Topics covered include: the pioneering stratigraphic studies of the eighteenth-century naturalist Francq van Berkhey; the 1863 geology lectures of Staring and his geological map of the Netherlands; the Maastricht Cretaceous finds in the emergence of Dutch vertebrate palaeontology; and the founding of ground water hydrology in the Netherlands.

The book also features two hallmark studies by Dutch scholars: a previously unpublished mineralogical treatise by Wiechmann, and a study of the suitability of Haüy’s crystal models to identify minerals. These collected papers together form a signal contribution to the Dutch history of science.