David Dale Owen
David Dale Owen (born June 24, 1807 in Lanarkshire , Scotland , † November 13, 1860 in New Harmony , Indiana ) was an American geologist, known for the geological survey of Indiana, Kentucky , Arkansas and other states of the Midwest.
Life
He was the son of Robert Owen, the social reformer and founder of New Harmony , Indiana, and came to geology through his father's acquaintance with William Maclure . Among other things, he studied in London for a year and earned an MD degree from the Medical College of Ohio in Cincinnati. At the same time he did research in New Harmony on his own initiative and opened a museum there. First he was an assistant in the geological survey of Tennessee , 1837 to 1839 he was the first state geologist of Indiana. Because of his excellent work there, he was appointed for the geological survey of Iowa, southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois, which he accomplished in a short time in 1839, so that the land sales could begin. After that he was considered the leading geologist in the American Midwest. From 1847 to 1849 he continued the exploration of Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa and Minnesota on behalf of the state, including Lake Superior (supported in 1849 by his brother Robert and also by his assistant Joseph Granville Norwood ). One goal was to identify mineral deposits, as the land could then be sold at a higher price. He was a Kentucky State Geologist from 1854 to 1857. In 1857 he became a state geologist for Arkansas and from 1859 to 1860 he was again a state geologist in Indiana.
As early as 1839 he identified the strata under the coal-bearing strata of the Pennsylvania stage of the Carboniferous, later (1870) called Mississippian by Alexander Winchell .
His brother was the geologist and first president of Purdue University Richard Owen (1810-1890).
literature
- C. Kimberling: David Dale Owen and Joseph Granville Norwood: Pioneer Geologists in Indiana and Illinois, Indiana Magazine of History, Volume 92, March 1996, pp.2-26.
- Walter Brookfield Hendrickson: David Dale Owen: Pioneer Geologist of the Middle West, Indiana Historical Bureau, Indianapolis, 1943.
- Mary C. Rabbitt: Minerals, lands, and geology for the common defense and general welfare, Volume 1, Before 1879, US Government Printing Office, 1979.
- David Dale Owen: A Geological Reconnoisance and Survey of the State of Indiana in 1837 and 1838, with Introduction and commentary by Henry H. Gray, Department of Natural Resources, Geological Survey Bulletin 61, Bloomington, Indiana, 1987.
- Owen: Report of a Geological Survey of Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota 1852
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Owen, David Dale |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American geologist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 24, 1807 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Lanarkshire , Scotland |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 13, 1860 |
| Place of death | New Harmony , Indiana |