brooks: applied geology 25 



It seems to be generally assumed that the application of geology 

 to industry was not attempted until after its development into 

 a more or less complete rational science. It can not be denied that 

 the application of the principles of a science must await the estab- 

 lishment of those principles through scientific inquiries. It is 

 true, however, that long before geology had developed as a science 

 men observed the geologic phenomena that bore on certain voca- 

 tions and often correctly interpreted such observations. 



The science of applied geology, therefore, had its origin among 

 those who, like the miners, were by vocation brought into inti- 

 mate contact with natural phenomena. Many of the elementary 

 facts relating to mineral deposits were forced on the attention of 

 the miner, and as the correct interpretation of these facts added 

 to his material welfare, some deductive reasoning was undoubtedly 

 applied. The rudimentary conceptions thus formed were more 

 likely to be correct than those of the early closest academician, 

 whose science for generations began and ended in pure specula- 

 tion. 



Therefore, to trace the origin of applied geology the oldest 

 archives treating of mining, quarrying, agriculture, engineering, 

 and mineralogy must be searched — a task which has been quite 

 beyond me. And reaching far back of any written record was the 

 traditional lore bearing on geologic phenomena of countless gener- 

 ations of miners and husbandmen. Even the man of the stone 

 age must have subconsciously acquired knowledge of the distri- 

 bution of the materials which he fashioned into implements of the 

 chase and war. If we are to allow our imagination full scope, we 

 can conceive of some primitive economic geologist who, by finding 

 a deposit of copper and revealing the superiority of the new mate- 

 rial for weapons, became the hero of his tribe. 



While our Aryan ancestors appear to have been ignorant of the 

 use of metals when they first invaded the Mediterranean countries, 

 yet they acquired a knowledge of them from the Semitic races 

 long before the dawn of history. In winning these metals 

 primitive man used methods which required neither any high 

 degree of technical skill nor a knowledge of the form of their 

 occurrence. Mining, being second only to agriculture in its 



