Geognosy
The term geognosy ( knowledge of the earth , from ancient Greek γῆ ( gē̂ ) = earth and γνῶσις ( gnō̂sis ) = knowledge) was used until the beginning of the 19th century for the teaching of the structure and construction of the solid earth's crust and corresponded to the current term of geology .
A distinction was made between preparative geognosy, to which the study of the morphology of the earth's surface, petrography (rock theory) and paleontology belonged, and systematic geognosy, which had the aim of gaining insight into the structure of the solid earth's crust on the basis of investigations into preparative geognosy win.
The term "geology", which has been used since the late 18th century, initially referred to the relatively limited area of investigation into the evolutionary history of the earth's body. The meaning of the term expanded later, and geology, as the science of the structure and evolution of the earth, completely replaced the term "geognosy".