Landmarks in Foraminiferal Micropalaeontology: History and Development

This TMS Special Publication comprises a collection of 23 papers with an international authorship reflecting on landmarks in the history and development of Foraminiferal micropalaeontology. The volume is prefaced by an introductory overview that provides a brief and selected historical setting, as well as the intended aims of the book. Selected developments in Foraminiferal studies from a global perspective are presented from the time of Alcide d’Orbignyand the founding of the Paris MNHN collections in the mid-nineteenth century to the use of foraminifera in industry, other museum collections, palaeoceanography and environmental studies, regional studies from the Southern Hemisphere and the riseand fall of significant research schools. The book concludes with a chapter on the modelling of foraminifera. Landmarks in Foraminiferal Micropalaeontology: History and Development will be of particular interest to micropalaeontologists, other Earth scientists, historians of science, museum curators and the general reader with an interest in science.
A history of academic research on Foraminifera in the UK
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Published:January 01, 2013
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CiteCitation
Malcolm B. Hart, John R. Haynes, Richard J. Aldridge, Haydon W. Bailey, W. Roland Gehrels, F. John Gregory, Alan R. Lord, John W. Murray, Paul N. Pearson, John E. Whittaker, 2013. "A history of academic research on Foraminifera in the UK", Landmarks in Foraminiferal Micropalaeontology: History and Development, A. J. Bowden, F. J. Gregory, A. S. Henderson
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Abstract
The academic study of foraminifera began as the pursuit of the ‘gentleman naturalist’ in the nineteenth century, only becoming a professional occupation with the employment of micropalaeontologists by the (British) Geological Survey. The formal training of micropalaeontologists in British universities (and polytechnics) really began in the 1940s (post-World War ll) and much of this history can be traced back to Alan Wood and the employment predictions of F. R. S. Henson. Wood, either directly or indirectly, began the teaching of micropalaeontology at Imperial College (London), Aberystwyth and University College (London), and these three centres went on to develop and nurture the expertise we see in a wide range of schools and departments today. The rise, and fall, of MSc and MRes courses in UK geoscience departments is described, as well as the wide range of locations at which PhD training and research is undertaken. Much of this history can be related to the development of oil exploration, in the North Sea Basin and worldwide, and the need for suitably qualified personnel.