William Maclure by Marit

William Maclure was a Scottish geologist with a fascination for the geology of the United States. He lived from 1763 to 1840 and at that time the only widely used geological map of the United States was one of just the Eastern United States. Maclure's goal was to make a color, geological map of the entire country. This is what gave Maclure the title "father of American geology".
Geology was not regarded as a science at this time so Maclure didn't get much respect for his research and work until the full map was published in 1809. It is rumored that Maclure crossed the Appalachian Mountains 5000 times while constructing the map, There were other maps of the United States but none of them were as widely available as Maclure's, After presenting his findings, Maclure and the science ofGeofogy gained a huge amount of respect from other scientists. He eventually became President of The Academy of Natural Sciences. Maclure also published a book along with the map titled "Observations on the Geology of the United States", which is regarded as a symbol of the beginning of American geology. Maclure used the Wernerian system for constructing his maps and he is widely criticized for it. Maclure used only four colors on his map which represent four classes of rock. This put many limitations on what was included and wasn't included in the map, for example no voleanic rocks were included and he paid little attention to fossils. Even with the criticism, Maclure's map was so widely used because it was the only one of its kind.
Maclure is known as the "father of American geology" bccause he was the first to bring geology into the public eye, not because he had groundbreaking discoveries. His ideas were tcn ycars behind Europe's concepts, but still they were the only ideas in the United States so he was very famous in the scientific world. ?vlaclure also studied the geological layout and madc maps of India, France and Spain in his lifetime.
Besides geology, Maclure also had a passion for education. He unsuccessfully attempted to create an agricultural school in Spain. He also partnered up with scientist Robert Owen and created thc utopian community of New Harmony, Indiana. As leaders of the community they focused on education and society reform. The project seemed like a good idea in rctrospect but it only lastcd for two years.

Works Cited:

Abel'. James S .. "William MacIure." Historv of Geologv -- MacIure. 2007.18 Oct 2007 .

Wilson, James Grant. "William MacIure." Virtual American Biographies. 2001.

Viliualoiogy. 18 Oct 2007 .