| This is a list of important publications in geology, organized by
field.
Some reasons why a particular publication might be regarded as important:
- Topic creator – A publication that created a new topic
- Breakthrough – A publication that changed scientific knowledge significantly
- Introduction – A publication that is a good introduction or survey of a topic
- Influence – A publication which has significantly influenced the world
- Latest and greatest – The current most advanced result in a topic
Foundations
Principles of Geology
- Author: Charles Lyell
- Publication data: 1830–1833.
- Online version: Online version at esp.org (http://www.esp.org/books/lyell/principles/facsimile/title3.html)
- Description: The work's subtitle was "An Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface by Reference to
Causes now in Operation", and this explains Lyell's impact on science: he was, along with the earlier John Playfair, the major advocate of the then-controversial idea of uniformitarianism, that the earth was shaped entirely by slow-moving
forces acting over a very long period of time. This was in contrast to catastrophism, a geologic idea that went hand-in-hand with the age of the earth suggested by biblical chronology. In various
revised editions (twelve in all, through 1872), Principles of Geology was the most
influential geological work in the middle of the 19th century, and did much
to put geology on a modern footing.
- Importance: Topic creator, Breakthrough, Influence
The Evolution of the Igneous Rocks
- Norman L. Bowen
- Published: 1928
Report on the Geology of the Henry Mountains
- Grove Karl Gilbert
- 1877 U.S.G.S. Professional Paper
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