Geology at the crossroads: aspects of the geological career of Dr John MacCulloch

Abstract

Dr John MacCulloch MD was a pioneer of geological cartography. Prior to his surveys there had been few attempts to map and survey Scotland. Of these few, only the student efforts of Louis-Albert Necker de Saussure and the published map of Aimé Boué have attempted to show the whole country. MacCulloch's geological map of Scotland, published posthumously in 1836, remains one of the great cartographic milestones in the history of geology. Earlier, MacCulloch was the first government-appointed geologist through his work on the Board of Ordnance whilst carrying out the Millstone, Meridian and Mountain surveys. MacCulloch's work often generated controversy after 1820 when others began to take an interest in Scottish geology. MacCulloch

John Playfair on Schiehallion, 1801–1811

“…The Schiehallion experiment turned out, however, to play a crucial role in the production of MacCulloch's landmark geological map of Scotland (Bowden 2009 Rose & Rosenbaum 1988), and subsequently he was tasked with seeking alternative sites at which the Schiehallion experiment could be repeated, in line with Playfair's suggestion. An appropriate site had to display suitable form (a conical or ridged mountain) with suitable isolation and simple subsurface density distribution.…”

“…by such as are competent judges of the real errors and deficiencies'. Bowden (2007Bowden ( , 2009 argues that this sentiment is rather harsh, 10 but one such judge was George Bellas Greenough (1778-1855), the first President of the Geological Society of London, who noted that Playfair observed that lithology appeared to exert control on the form of Schiehallion , the hard, homogeneous quartzite defining Figure 4 from superimposed to indicate extent of Barrow's survey data and Hutton's 1778 modelling (Fig. 4).…”

“…Consequently, MacCulloch was afforded the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of Scotland. This was the perfect activity for him to indulge in his passion for creating a geological map of Scotland (Cumming 1985;Bowden 2009). MacCulloch was a very early member of the Geological Society of London and following election in 1808 served on the Nomenclature Committee (Woodward 1907) and later as the Society's fourth President (1816-1817).…”

The road to Smith: how the Geological Society came to possess English geology

“…Not far away is his bust. MacCulloch was an early member of the Society, but, unlike Greenough's, his map was not a product of the Society's efforts (Bowden 2009). Like Greenough's map, however, MacCulloch's also conceals a contemporary dispute, this time about the uses of public money (Cumming 1985).…”

The Geological Society on the other side of the world

“…The explorer and surveyor, (Sir) Thomas Mitchell really set the ball rolling in 1835 (Mitchell 1838) on his expedition into northwestern New South Wales. It was perhaps appropriate that the first such name he bestowed was that of the energetic Dr John MacCulloch (1773-1835) (on 24 June 1835), President (1816-1818) and producer of a fine map of Scotland, who joined the Society in 1808 (Bowden 2009 (Feeken et al 1970).…”