brooks: applied geology 35 



The nineteenth century opened during the epoch of intellec- 

 tual freedom which followed the turmoil of the French Revolution. 

 The time was favorable to the progress of science. The scholar 

 felt free to follow scientific inquiries to their logical conclusions 

 untrammeled by the interdict of authority. Nowhere was this 

 more true than in the field of geology, for, notwithstanding the 

 efforts of dogmatic theology for upwards of half a century to 

 dominate geologic thought, its edicts could hamper the growth 

 of the science but little. 



Further incentive sprang from the development of new political 

 ideals. As the nation began to concern itself with the needs of 

 the individual citizen the application of science to human needs 

 was encouraged. Under the old regime, so long as the wants of 

 the ruling classes were supplied no thought was given to the wants 

 of the masses. When this attitude was changed it was natural 

 to seek the aid of the scientist in ameliorating conditions. There- 

 fore, the dawn of the new century was propitious not only to the 

 advancement of pure science, but also to a general appreciation 

 of applied science. 



Nowhere were conditions for the evolution of geologic science 

 better than in our own land. Being far removed from the con- 

 troversies which occupied the s"ole attention of many European 

 geologists we could accept or reject without prejudice this or 

 that theory. Our people had entered upon the exploitation of a 

 new land, with boundless possibilities of natural wealth, and 

 pioneer conditions brought most of them into intimate contact 

 with natural phenomenon. Books of travel written in the early 

 part of the century bear witness that a close observation of geo- 

 logic facts was forced upon every traveller. 



A general interest in science and its application was prevalent 

 in America, even in colonial times. This was reflected in the 

 scientific and practical character of educational ideals. In its 

 first advertisement, issued in 1754, Columbia College (then called 

 King's) provided for the instruction of youths — 



"in the arts of numbering and measuring; of surveying and navigation; 

 of geography and history; of husbandry, commerce, and government, 

 and in the knowledge of all nature in the heavens above us and in the air, 

 water, and earth around us, and in the various kinds of meteors, stones, 



