Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Proofs and Reputations: Sir James Hall and the Use of Classification Devices in Scientific Argument
Proofs and Reputations: Sir James Hall and the Use of Classification Devices in Scientific Argument
Page Range: 25 – 43
The importance of classification and labelling in shaping people's perceptions has long been acknowledged and it is accepted that the imposition of a label can affect how someone is treated. Although the process of labelling has been studied in some areas of society, its role in the scientific community has gone largely unexamined. Labels may well be important though if they are used in the presentation of arguments, particularly over contentious issues. Sir James Hall (1761-1832), commonly known as the originator of experimental geology and as a prominent member of the Edinburgh Huttonians, is strongly associated with two labels. He has traditionally been presented as either an experimentalist who confirmed the ideas of Hutton or as a Huttonian who deviated from his mentor's scientific system to incorporate diluvialism. Close analysis, however, reveals that his geological work was systematic and not a misunderstanding of Huttonianism. Similarly, it is proposed that Hall's reputations arose from labels used by other scientists in responding to his work. Since enduring reputations may be built up in this way, it is important that historians should be cautious in their acceptance and use of scientists' own labels.
BAILEY, E.G., 1967, James Hutton - The Founder of Modern Geology. London.
BAKEWELL, R., 1813, 1828, & 1833, An Introduction to Geology. 1st, 3rd and 4th editions, London.
BECKER, H. 1973, Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance, rev.ed., London.
BEN-DAVID, J. 1971, The Scientist's Role in Society, Englewood Cliffs.
BISCHOF, C.G., 1847, Lehrbuch der chemischen und physikalischen Geologie, v.1, Bonn.
BRANNIGAN, A., 1981, The Social Basis of Scientific Discoveries, Cambridge.
BREWSTER, D. 1837, review of W. Buckland's Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology inthe Edinburgh Review, v. 65.
CAMPBELL, N. and R.M.S. SMELLIE, 1983, The Royal Society of Edinburgh (1783-1983): The First Two Hundred Years, Edinburgh.
CATCOTT, A. 1761, Treatise on the Deluge, London.
CHALDECOTT, J.A., 1968, Contributions of Fellows of the Royal Society to the Fabrication of Platinum Vessels, Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, v. 24, p. 21-52.
DAUBRÉE, G.A., 1867, Rapport sur les Progrès de la Géologie Expérimentale.
DAUBRÉE, G.A., 1877, Etudes Synthétiques de Géologie Expérimentale, v.1, Paris.
DAVIES, G.L., 1969, The Earth in Decay, London.
DAVY, H. 1830, Consolations in Travel or the last Days of a Philosopher, London.
DEAN, D.R., 1979, The Word "Geology": Annals of Science, v. 36, p. 35-43.
DEBUS, A.G., 1961, Gabriel Plattes and his Chemical Theory of the Formation of the Earth's Crust: Ambix, v. 9, p. 162-165.
EYLES, V.A., 1961, Sir James Hall, Bt. 1761-1832: Endeavour, v. 20, p. 210-216.
EYLES, V.A., 1963, The Evolution of a Chemist: Annals of Science, v. 19, p. 153-182.
EYLES, V.A., 1972, Dictionary of Scientific Biography (C.C. Gillespie, ed.), v. 6, New York, p. 53-56.
FLETT, J.S., 1921, Experimental Geology: British Association for the Advancement of Science, p. 56-74.
GILLESPIE, C.C., 1959, Genesis and Geology, New York.
HALL, B., 1834, Notice of a Machine for Regulating High Temperatures, Invented by thelate Sir James Hall, Bart., F.G.S.: Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, v.1, p. 478-479.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1783, Travel notebooks, National Library of Scotland, MS 6324-6329, especially 6324: May 1783-April 1784.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1790, On the Formation of Pumice Stone: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v.2, pt. 1, (read in 1788), p. 30.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1791, Travel journals, National Library of Scotland, MS 6329-6332.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1794, Observations on the Formation of Granite, v.3, pt.1, (read in 1790), p. 7-12.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1798a, On the Origin and Principles of Gothic Architecture, ibid., v.4, pt. 2, p. 3-27.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1798b, Laboratory Notebooks, National Library of Scotland, MS 5019 and 5020.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1804, Experiments on the Effects of Heat Modified by Compression: Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, v.9, p. 98-107.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1805a, Letter to Dr. Marcet, National Library of Scotland, MS 3813, f43.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1805b, Experiments on Whinstone and Lava: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v.5 (read in 1798), p. 43-75.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1812, Account of a Series of Experiments, Shewing the Effects of Compression in Modifying the Action of Heat: ibid., v.6, (read in 1805) p. 71-85.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1813a, Essay on the Origin, History, and Principles of Gothic Architecture, London.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1813b, Letter to Dr. Marcet, National Library of Scotland, MS 3813, f51.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1815a, On the Vertical Position and Convolutions of Certain Strata, and their Relations with Granite: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v. 7 (read in 1812), p. 79-108.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1815b, On the Revolutions of the Earth's Surface: ibid., v.7, (read in 1825), p. 139-211.
HALL, SIR JAMES, 1826, On the Consolidation of the Strata of the Earth: ibid, v.10, (read in 1825), p. 314-329.
HEILBRON, J.L., 1981, Experimental Natural Philosophy in The Ferment of Knowledge: Studies in the Historiography of Eighteenth Century Science, (G.S. Rousseau, R. Porter, eds.), Cambridge, p. 357-387.
HOOKE, R. 1665, Micrographia, London.
HOOYKAAS, R. 1963, Natural Law and Divine Miracle, Leiden.
HUTTON, JAMES, 1788, Theory of the Earth: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v.1, p. 209-304.
HUTTON, JAMES, 1792, Dissertation on the Different Subjects in Natural Philosophy, Edinburgh.
HUTTON, JAMES, 1794, A Dissertation upon the Philosophy of Light, Heat and Fire, Edinburgh.
HUTTON, JAMES, 1795, The theory of the Earth with Proofs and Illustrations, v.1.
KEIR, J., 1776, On the Crystallisations Observed in Glass: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v. 66, p. 530-542.
KENNEDY, R. 1805, A Chemical Analysis of Three Species of Whinstone and Lava: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v.5, p. 76-98.
KIRWAN, R. 1802, Observations on the Proofs of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth Adduced by Sir James Hall, Bart.: Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, v.8, p. 3-27.
KNIGHT, WILLIAM, 1818, Facts and Observations toward Forming a New Theory of the Earth, Edinburgh.
LYELL, C., 1830-33, The Principles of Geology, 3 vols., London.
MacKENZIE, G.S., 1812, Travels in the Island of Iceland, During the Summer of the Year MDCCCX, Edinburgh.
MacKENZIE, G.S., 1830, Deluge or Debacle in Geology in D. Brewster (ed.), Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, v.7, p. 603-605.
MULKAY, M.J., 1979, Science and the Society of Knowledge, London.
MULKAY, M. and GILBERT, G.N., 1982, Accounting for Error: How Scientists Construct their Social World when They Account for Correct and Incorrect Belief: Sociology, v. 16, p.165-183.
MURCHISON, R.I., 1834, Proceedings of the Geological Society of London, v.1, p. 438-440.
[MURRAY, J.], 1802, A Comparative View of the Huttonian and Wernerian Systems of Geology, Edinburgh.
OLDROYD, D.R., 1975, Mineralogy and the "Chemical" Revolution: Centaurus, v.19, p. 54-71.
OLDROYD, D.R., 1980, Sir Archibald Geikie (1835-1924), Geologist, Romantic, Aesthetic, and Historian of Geology: The Problem of Whig Historiography of Science: Annals of Science, v.37, p. 441-462.
OLSON, R., 1975, Scottish Philosophy and British Physics 1750-1880, Princeton.
PAGE, L.E., 1965, John Playfair and Huttonian Catastrophism: Actes du XI Congrès International d'Histoire des Sciences, pt.4, p. 221-225.
PAGE, L.E., 1969, Diluvialism and its Critics in Great Britain in the Early Nineteenth Century in Toward a History of Geology (C.J. Schneer, ed.), London, p. 257-271.
PALLAS, P.S., 1777, Observations sur la Formation des Montagnes et sur les Changements Arrivés au Globe: Acta Academae Scientiarum Imperialis Petropolitanae, pt. 1, p. 21-64.
PLAYFAIR, J., 1811, Review of the First volume of the Transactions of the Geological Society of London: Edinburgh Review, v.19, no. 37, p. 207-229.
PLAYFAIR, J., 1964, Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, New York.
PORTER, R., 1976, Charles Lyell and the Principles of the History of Geology: British Journal for the History of Science, v.9, p. 91-103.
PORTER, R., 1977, The Making of Geology, Cambridge.
PRIESTLEY, J., 1786, Experiments and Observations Relating to Various Branches of Natural Philosophy, v.3, Birmingham.
RUDLER, F.W., 1889, Experimental Geology: Proceedings of the Geologists' Association, v.11, p. 69-103.
RUDWICK, M.J.S., 1970, The Strategy of Lyell's Principles of Geology: Isis, v.61, p. 5-35.
RUDWICK, M.J.S., 1971, Uniformity and Progression: Reflections on the Structure of Geological Theory in the Age of Lyell, in Perspectives in the History of Science and Technology (D.H.D. Roller, ed.), Norman, Oklahoma.
RUMFORD, COUNT (or Sir Benjamin Thompson), 1871, New Experiments with Gunpowder …: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v.71, p. 230-328.
ST. FOND, B. FAUJAS de, 1788, Essai sur l'Histoire Naturelle des Roches de Trapp, Paris.
ST. FOND, B. FAUJAS de, 1803, Essai de Geologie, Paris, p. 22-23.
SAUSSURE, H.B., 1779, Voyages dans les Alpes, Neuchatel, v.1.
SCHOFIELD, R.E., 1963, The Lunar Society of Birmingham, Oxford.
SCHOFIELD, R.E., (ed.), 1966, A Scientific Autobiography of Joseph Priestley, 1733-1804, Cambridge.
SCOTT, H.W., ed., 1966, Lectures on Geology by John Walker, London.
SIEGFRIED, R. and DOTT, R.H., 1976, Humphry Davy as Geologist, 1805-29: British Journal for the History of Science, v.9, p. 219-227.
SIEGFRIED, R. and DOTT, R.H., 1980, Humphry Davy on Geology, The 1805 Lectures for the General Audience, London.
SMITH, C.S., 1969, Porcelain and Plutonism in Toward a History of Geology, (C.J. Schneer, ed.), London, p. 317-338.
SPALLANZINI, 1936, Le Opere di Lazarros Spallanzini, Milan, v.5.
STEWART, D., 1793, Outlines of Moral Philosophy, for the Use of Students in the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh (citation from 5th ed., 1829).
STEWART, D., 1794, Account of the Life and Writings of Adam Smith: Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, v.3, p. 55-137.
WATT, G., 1804, Observations on Basalt: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, v.94, p. 279-314.
WHORF, B.L., 1956, Language, Thought, and Reality: Selected Papers, New York.
WOODWARD, H.B., 1907, The History of the Geological Society of London, London.