Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Alfred Selwyn - 19th Century Trans-Atlantic Connections Via Australia
Alfred Selwyn - 19th Century Trans-Atlantic Connections Via Australia
Page Range: 143 – 157
The contributions of A.R.C. Selwyn to geological science were considerable, and possibly unique in the 19th century, as they spanned three continents in a career lasting more than 50 years. In particular Selwyn is rightly regarded as establishing geology as a profession in Australia, both by his own high quality mapping, and by the training of a number of talented young men in his Geological Survey of Victoria (1852-1868). In Canada he pursued the same high standards when appointed as Director of the Geological Survey at a time when the Dominion had just become greatly enlarged. A strong supporter of his staff, Selwyn engaged in a controversy with U.S. geologists about Precambrian and Lower Palaeozoic stratigraphy, maintaining that Canadian field evidence provided the key which negated the U.S. stand. Selwyn maintained links with the colleagues of his early years in the British Geological Survey (1845-1852) during his long career, keeping in touch with new ideas in Europe and informing his friends about the results of Australian and Canadian geological research.
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