Adam Sedgwick

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Adam Sedgwick 1832

Adam Sedgwick (born March 22, 1785 in Dent , Yorkshire , † January 27, 1873 in Cambridge ) was one of the founders of modern geology . He proposed both the Devonian and Cambrian periods as constituents of the geological timescale. The latter proposal was based on the stratigraphic research he had done in Wales.

Live and act

Sedgwick was the third child of an Anglican vicar . He was educated at Sedbergh School and Trinity College , Cambridge .

In 1810 he became an assistant there, and in 1818 as one of the successors to John Woodwards Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge. In the same year he was ordained a clergyman of the Anglican Church. In Cambridge he was involved in reforms that should make the university a modern educational and research institution. In 1829 he became President of the Geological Society in London. In 1834 he became canon (Prebendary) of Norwich Cathedral; he held this function in addition to his university offices until his death. In 1835 he published together with Sir Roderick Murchison the work On the Silurian and Cambrian Systems, Exhibiting the Order in which the Older Sedimentary Strata Succeed each other in England and Wales (German: About the Silurian and Cambrian Periods. The arrangement in which the older Successive sediment layers in England and Wales ). In 1844 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and in 1858 as a corresponding member of the Académie des sciences . In 1845 he became the assistant principal of Trinity College. He is the namesake for the Sedgwick Glacier on Alexander I Island in Antarctica.

Sedgwick and Darwin

He stayed in correspondence with Charles Darwin , who had been one of his students in geology, during his voyage on board the HMS Beagle . However, Darwin could never convince him of his theory of evolution. Sedgwick even wrote to Darwin:

“If I did not think you a good tempered and truth-loving man I should not tell you that… I have read your book with more pain than pleasure. Parts of it I admired greatly; parts I laughed at till my sides were almost sore; other parts I read with absolute sorrow; because I think them utterly false and grievously mischievous. You have deserted - after a start in that tram-road of all solid physical truth - the true method of induction ... "

“ If I didn't think you're such a decent and truthful man, I wouldn't tell you… but I read your book with more discomfort than pleasure. Some places impressed me deeply; at others I laughed until I almost got a stitch; I read other passages with great concern because I consider them to be completely wrong and seriously misleading. After starting on this track of solid scientific truth, you have left the true method of induction ... "

- Adam Sedgwick to Charles Darwin : letter dated November 24, 1859

Despite these fundamental differences of opinion, the two remained good friends until the end of their lives.

Works (selection)

  • A discourse on the studies of the University of Cambridge . 5th edition 1850; on-line

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ List of members since 1666: Letter S. Académie des sciences, accessed on February 28, 2020 (French).
  2. ^ Adam Sedgwick: Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, CR, 24 Nov 1859. Darwin Correspondence Project, accessed January 30, 2016 (English, Letter 2548).
personal data
SURNAME Sedgwick, Adam
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British geology
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1785
PLACE OF BIRTH Dent
DATE OF DEATH January 27, 1873
Place of death Cambridge