Abstract
This paper works with the modern concept of the geological hotspot
track – the building processes and movements of volcanic island
chains – applied strategically to one of its illustrative formations,
the Madeira Archipelago. By analogy, however, the concept works equally
well to describe the important early 19th‐century scientific
knowledge‐building activity that produced Charles Lyell's On the Geology of Some Parts of Madeira
(1854). A central section of the paper uncovers the contributions to
knowledge of this geology before Lyell's, and in particular, Excursions of Madeira and Porto Santo
(1825) by Mr [sic] T. Edward Bowdich. A thorough examination of this
text then constitutes an important case study for literal and figurative
investigation of geological hotspot tracks. The main argument proposed
is that current specialist research forgets its submerged and longer
histories to its detriment. Insights contained in older information
often supply reminders of the key questions and contributions from the
past that provide checks and balances for further developments of a
field. By promoting multi‐level, multi‐stranded and multi‐lingual
investigation of the history of 19th‐century geology in Madeira before
Lyell (1854)
as central to hotspot track research, this paper marks nodal conditions
that constitute advancement in critical knowledge‐building within and
outside the discipline of geology.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 135-166 |
Number of pages | 32 |
Journal | Centaurus |
Volume | 56 |
Issue number | 3 |
Early online date | 30 Jun 2014 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 23 Aug 2014 |
Keywords
- Charles Lyell
- History of geology of Madeira
- Hotspot track
- ‘Notes’ by Alexander von Humboldt
- Sarah Bowdich
- Women in geology