- Geological Society of London
The Geological Society of London is a
learned society based in theUnited Kingdom with the aim of "investigating the mineral structure of the Earth". It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with over 9000 Fellows entitled to the postnominal FGS - over 2000 of whom are Chartered Geologists (CGeol). The Society is a Registered Charity, No 210161.Bicentenary
The Society was founded in
1807 . It was partly the outcome of a previous club known as theAskesian Society , and among the more prominent founders were William Babington,Humphry Davy andGeorge Bellas Greenough . It received its Royal Charter in1825 from George IV.Since 1874 the Society has been based at
Burlington House ,Piccadilly ,London . This building houses the Society's library, which contains more than 300,000 volumes of books and journals. [ [http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/ The Geological Society] ] It is a member of the UKScience Council .The Society celebrated its bicentennial celebrations in
2007 with a number of programmes to raise the profile of the geosciences in Britain and abroad under the auspices of the well-known popular science writer and palaeontologist Professor Richard Fortey, the President over that year.Publications
The society publishes two of its own journals, the (formerly "Quarterly") "Journal of the Geological Society" and the "Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology". It also publishes the magazine "Geoscientist" for Fellows, and has a share in "Geology Today", published by Blackwell Science.
It also co-publishes journals and publishes on behalf of other organisations. These include "Petroleum Geoscience" with the European Association of
Geoscientist s and Engineers (EAGE), "Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis" with the Association of Applied Geochemists (AAG), "Journal of Micropalaeontology" for the Micropalaeontological Society, "Proceedings of the Geologists’ Association" for the GA, "Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society" for the YGS and "Scottish Journal of Geology" for the Geological Societies of Edinburgh and Glasgow.Past Presidents
The society counts many famous geologists amongst its past presidents. These include pioneers of geology Buckland, Sedgwick, Murchison, Lyell, De la Beche, T.H.Huxley, Prestwich, Geikie and Lapworth. Later well-known names include Alfred Harker, Arthur Trueman, H.H.Read and Frederick Shotton. The current president is the palaeontologist
Richard Fortey .cientific awards and funds
In 1831 it began issuing an annual scientific award for geology, known as the
Wollaston Medal . This is still the Society's premier medal, which in 2006 was awarded toJames Lovelock , the originator of theGaia Hypothesis .Medals awarded by the Society
*
Wollaston Medal
*Lyell Medal
*Murchison Medal
*Prestwich Medal
*William Smith Medal
*Aberconway Medal
*Major John Sacheverell A'Deane Coke Medal
*Major Edward D'Ewes Fitzgerald Coke Medal
*Sue Tyler Friedman Medal
*Bigsby Medal Funds administered by the Society
*
The Wollaston Fund
*The Murchison Fund
*The Lyell Fund
*The William Smith Fund
*The R. H. Worth Prize
*The Distinguished Service Award Bibliography
* Herries Davies, G.L. (2007) "Whatever is Under the Earth: The Geological Society of London 1807 to 2007", London : Geological Society, ISBN 1-86239-214-5
ee also
*
Geology of the United Kingdom
*William Smith (geologist) References
External links
* [http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/ The Geological Society]
* [http://www.lyellcollection.org/ "Lyell Collection": Online literature resource for researcher and student]
* [http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/template.cfm?name=Awards The Geological Society awards]
* [http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/template.cfm?name=medallistsfrom1831_ The Geological Society award recipients]*http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/gsl/info/collections/archives/pid/759;jsessionid=A3879D5F8CDE2AE8A5B6D66499E30DDF
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