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Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 2007; v. 287; p. 311-323;
DOI: 10.1144/SP287.24
© 2007 Geological Society of London

South America

Doing and knowing: Charles Darwin and other travellers

S. Herbert

University of Maryland Baltimore County, Department of History, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA (e-mail: herbert{at}umbc.edu)

In the 1830s, geology was a young discipline in the process of acquiring uniform standards. This study considers Charles Darwin's work in relation to that of other more practically and less academically oriented travellers. It suggests a continuity exists between the more practically and the more academically-minded groups in such projects as exploring, mining, map and chart making, collecting of specimens, and travel writing. It also highlights the role played by William Fitton as an academically-minded geologist whose instructions on collecting and observing were intended to raise standards for geologists. It suggests that such disciplinary improvements were not unique to geology but reflected a more general willingness at the time to instruct and be instructed.