George Julius Poulett ScropeDied 19 Jan 1876 at age 78 (born 10 Mar 1797). English geologist, political economist and Member of Parliament. He took an early amateur interest in geology and volcanology, and his work helped disprove the Neptunist theory that all Earth's rocks were of oceanic sedimentary origin believed by a number of early 19th century geologists. He studied volcanic features in Italy, Sicily and Germany, and especially in central France and wrote Considerations on Volcanoes (1825) and Memoir on the Geology of Central France. (1827). It was by his observations on the erosion of valleys by rivers, that he was able to extend and confirm the views of James Hutton and John Playfair. His birth name of Thompson became Scrope in 1821 when he married the daughter of the earl William Scrope.« |
