2006
Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award

Sandra Herbert
University of Maryland, Baltimore County

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Presented to Sandra Herbert

 Citation by Michelle L. Aldrich

Professor Sandra Herbert has received the Mary C. Rabbitt History of Geology Award on the basis of her scholarly work on Charles Darwin as a geologist.

Dr. Herbert is a professional historian (BA in Interdisciplinary Studies, Wiitenberg University; MA and PhD, History of Ideas, Brandeis University). She started research on a dissertation on Darwin’s evolutionary ideas when she discovered that his field notes were full of geological material that she needed to understand before she could treat fully his development as a scientist. As she details in her response, she asked for help from colleagues in geologists in Boston and Washington DC, meeting with unfailing and widespread guidance and enthusiasm.She has also enriched her understanding of Darwin’s geology by traveling to the sites he visited within the United Kingdom and South America.

Her first two books were editions of notes that Darwin kept before he composed Origin of Species. Darwin’s handwriting is neat but often difficult to read (although not as bad as Lyell’s). In addition to making the transcripts available, Herbert (solo in 1980 for the Red Notebook, with others in 1987 for other notes) extensively annotated the material and provided thoughtful introductions. The Red Notebook contains Darwin’s most sweeping geological statement (that the geology of the world would turn out to be simple) and includes his first jottings on transmutation. The 1987 collection (Charles Darwin’s Notebooks, 1836-1844: Geology, Transmutation of Species, Metaphysical Enquiries) is strong on geology precisely because she was part of the project. It presents his thoughts on the species question, geology, scientific methods, and human nature under one cover.

Herbert’s master work Charles Darwin, Geologist appeared in 2005 from Cornell University Press. It engendered considerable discussion at the History of Science Society meeting last year, praised by historians of biology (who regard Darwin as “their guy”) and historians of geology. Sally Newcomb calls the book as “superb”. The book argues that Darwin’s evolutionary thinking was greatly influenced by his field work and writing as a geologist. Herbert also deals with Darwin’s geological writings on their own terms, placing him in the context of other English and continental geologists of his time. Some have stated that Herbert’s book is the last word on the subject, but I think it will stimulate more research and writing about Darwin and geology by geologists and historians, and will invigorate the study of other 19th century geologists. This is a rich book, heavily illustrated (something she learned from geologists).

Charles Darwin, Geologist, while published only a year ago, has already met widespread acclaim in scientific, historical, and popular journals. Historians (Michael Ruse, Paul Lucier, and Sheila Ann Dean) and geologists (Leo Laporte, Martin Rudwick and David Oldroyd), some of whom are among the toughest critics in the history of science, have published favorable reviews. Metascience devoted a forum to the book, with three reviewers and a response by Herbert.

Before the book came out, Herbert published a number of articles on various aspects of Darwin’s geological thought in peer-reviewed journals. This gave her valuable feedback that enhanced the analysis in the book. She has presented numerous papers at scholarly meetings, including GSA. She has been active in the History of Science Society, HESS, and the history of science section of the AAAS. Herbert has had a distinguished teaching career at the University of Maryland (Baltimore County), moving through the ranks from Lecturer to Professor in the History Department. She has accomplished much of her scholarly work through visiting appointments and research grants at the Smithsonian, Princeton, and abroad, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. She integrates history of geology in her courses and has directed student theses on the subject., and was the Founding Director of the Program in the Human Context of Science and Technology (2001-2006) at UMBC..

What of the future? During academic year 2006-2007, Herbert will be resident at Cambridge University, working on two major projects involving in part a detailed study of Darwin’s 4,000 specimen geological collection at the Sedgwick Museum. First, she will serve as a consultant on an exhibition planned to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth and the 800th anniversary of Cambridge University Second, she will be extending her work on Darwin as a geologist past 1860. This year will be supported by the University of Maryland (Baltimore County), Cambridge University, and the National Science Foundation. In addition, Herbert plans to join an expedition to the Galapagos that will resurvey the James Island site that Darwin visited. We eagerly await the results of these studies, confident they will be as insightful as her scholarly contributions to the history of geology to date.

  2006 History of Geology Award - Response by Sandra Herbert

Thank you for giving me the Mary C. Rabbitt award for 2006.

I would like to begin by saying how important it is important for historians of geology to recognize Charles Darwin's work as a geologist. Geology as a discipline is often not credited for its role as a fundamental science. We are more used to casting biology, chemistry, and physics in that role. However, if one looks at the role played by geology as providing a foundation for natural history, and for Darwin's working on the theory of evolution, geology has served historically as a fundamental science.

Just how much Darwin was involved with the then-young science of geology was a fact that pressed itself on me while I was a graduate student reading my way through his manuscripts from his service as naturalist — and geologist — on H.M.S. Beagle in 1831-1836. Geology seemed central to him, even within the realm of his dreamiest imagination. Here he is in a notebook entry written in 1838 of the heading "Analysis of pleasure of scenery."

I a geologist have illdefined notion of land covered with ocean, former animals, slow force cracking surface &c truly poetical.....

In 1838 Darwin had already committed himself to the idea of evolution but still he identified himself as "I a geologist." And geology was his primary affiliation professionally. He served as secretary to the Geological Society of London.

Another intriguing feature of Darwin's identity as a young scientist is that he did not succeed at everything he touched: his early theory of a "simple" geology went unrealized. It was an honest over-reaching, and corrected by the work of other geologists at the time. This is science in action: sometimes ideas succeed, sometimes they fail. Darwin may seem more ordinary as a geologist than as a biologist: his impact on the two sciences was not of equal magnitude. But that aspect, to me, emphasizes the human side of science, as well as the resilient nature of disciplines. Many people make an effort, and proper effort and method eventually yields good results.

What's next? I would emphasize that there is still more to do on Darwin as geologist. For example, his complete geological notes from the “Beagle” voyage, which are extensive and coherent, have not yet been transcribed and published, and the actual specimens from the voyage await adequate treatment

As to potential new researchers, may I call on the group assembled here: historians of geology. Ideally it is general historians, historians of science, and geologists working together who are best suited for identifying and analyzing Darwin’s contributions as a geologist

In my own studies, I have looked for partners. I would particularly like to thank professors of geology from Boston University, George Washington University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the University of Maryland College Park who allowed me to audit their courses. Tony Coates, Nicholas Hotton III, and Eileen McLellan welcomed a newcomer to their field. And what was doing geology like for an historian? An intellectual and aesthetic pleasure. "To the field" the nineteenth-century giants of geology cried, and I heartily echo their sentiment. It has been a pleasure to explore the natural world in the company of geologists.

On the writing side I wish to credit David Oldroyd for encouraging me as he has done so many historians of geology, and Michele Aldrich, Jim Fleming, and Ellis Yochelson for setting an encouraging example close to home. This summer Ellis and I were working on an exhibit proposal on “Darwin as Geologist” for the National Museum of Natural History on the Mall. His enthusiasm — phone calls, e-mailing, meetings — kept me at the task. I was looking forward to putting in his hand the photographic material for the exhibit the week he passed away. I hope someone at the Smithsonian will continue his interest in doing an exhibit on Darwin and geology. The public deserves to know about Darwin’s work on reefs and volcanoes as well on pigeons.

Students are also one’s colleagues. I’d like to thank Drew Alfgren, who is receiving the award in my stead. Drew’s thesis (under the direction of my UMBC colleague Joe Tatarewicz) was entitled “From Continental Drift to Plate Tectonics: The Great Debate in Geology, A Selective Review of the Literature.” My student Cathy Barton worked with the Marie Tharp papers at the Library Congress. A portion of her thesis entitled “Marie Tharp, Oceanographic Cartographer, and Her Contributions to the Revolution in the Earth Sciences” was published in The Earth Inside and Out: Some Major Contributions to Geology in the Twentieth Century (2002). Another student Eric Brown graduated from UMBC and is now writing his Ph.D. dissertation at Princeton University. The working title of his dissertation — very much in the spirit of Mary C. Rabbit’s work — is “Making Mining Scientific: Epistemology and Practice in 19th Century Economic Geology.”

Last I want to thank my family. My husband Jim Herbert put on his hiking boots and has gone with me on geological excursions, and our daughters Kristen and Sonja Herbert grew up surrounded by photocopies of manuscripts and were known on occasion to annotate Darwin’s texts with crayoned drawings of their own.

Thank you all.