The Bulletin of the Geological Society of America and Charles Doolittle Walcott

Charles Doolittle Walcott, who became the third Director of the U.S. Geological Survey and the fourth Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, was author of a paper in volume 1, number 1, of the Bulletin of the Geological Society of America. From 1890 through 1906, he published six scientific papers, one abstract, eight discussions, and a presidential address in that journal. Examination of these four categories of publication helps trace the history of the Society and the Bulletin through their early years.

Walcott made a very few errors of fact and of judgment in the six papers. Notwithstanding those, the quality and breadth of the papers demonstrate that he was a geologist of wide-ranging interests and confirm his importance in American geology; only part of his scientific activities during this 16-year interval were published in the Bulletin. The subsequent impact of Walcott's scientific papers is included in this historical review.