
At the turn of the nineteenth century, geology--and its claims that the earth had a long and colorful prehuman history--was widely dismissed as dangerous nonsense. But just fifty years later, it was the most celebrated of Victorian sciences. Ralph O'Connor tracks the astonishing...

At the turn of the nineteenth century, geology-and its claims that the earth had a long and colorful prehuman history-was widely dismissedasdangerous nonsense. But just fifty years later, it was the most celebrated of Victorian sciences. Ralph O'Connor tracks the astonishing...