George Bellas Greenough (1778–1855)

Greenough led on the production of this map, which collates his own field work with several other ‘geophilists’. His aim was to create a unified picture of rock formations across Britain. Greenough was the first President of the Geological Society of London, and here we see how co-operation helped foster the new science of geology. There were critics of his method, however. The novel use of colour was controversial. Requiring comparison between sections and swatches in the index, it was deemed too time-consuming by some.

Maps.b.35.81.1