The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership ...

based in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fellows are entitled to the postnominal FGS (Fellow of the Geological Society), over 2,000 of whom are Chartered Geologists (CGeol). The Society is a

Registered Charity A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definitio ...

, No. 210161. It is also a member of the

Science Council The Science Council is a UK organisation that was established by Royal Charter in 2003. The principal activity of The Science Council is the promotion of the advancement and dissemination of knowledge of and education in science pure and applie ...

, and is licensed to award Chartered Scientist to qualifying members. The mission of the society is: "Making geologists acquainted with each other, stimulating their zeal, inducing them to adopt one nomenclature, facilitating the communication of new facts and ascertaining what is known in their science and what remains to be discovered".

History

The Society was founded on 13 November 1807 at the Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen Street, in the

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

district of London. It was partly the outcome of a previous club known as the Askesian Society. There were 13 founder members: William Babington, James Parkinson,

Humphry Davy Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet, (17 December 177829 May 1829) was a British chemist and inventor who invented the Davy lamp and a very early form of arc lamp. He is also remembered for isolating, by using electricity, several elements for the ...

George Bellas Greenough George Bellas Greenough FRS FGS (18 January 1778 – 2 April 1855) was a pioneering English geologist. He is best known as a synthesizer of geology rather than as an original researcher. Trained as a lawyer, he was a talented speaker and his ...

, Arthur Aikin,

William Allen William Allen may refer to: Politicians United States *William Allen (congressman) (1827–1881), United States Representative from Ohio * William Allen (governor) (1803–1879), U.S. Representative, Senator, and 31st Governor of Ohio * Willia ...

, Jacques Louis, Comte de Bournon, Richard Knight, James Laird, James Franck, William Haseldine Pepys, Richard Phillips, and William Phillips. It received its Royal Charter on 23 April 1825 from

George IV George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...

. Since 1874, the Society has been based at Burlington House,

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Cou ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. This building houses the Society's library, which contains more than 300,000 volumes of books and journals. It is a member of the UK

. Women were first allowed to become Fellows of the Society in 1919. In 1991, it merged with the Institution of Geologists, which had been formed in 1977 to represent the geological profession. The Society celebrated its bicentenary in 2007. It ran programmes in the geosciences in Britain and abroad, under the auspices of the science writer and palaeontologist Professor Richard Fortey, the president that year.

Specialist and regional groups

The Society has 24 specialist groups and 15 regional groups which serve as an opportunity for those with specific interests to meet and discuss their subject or region. They are all free for members to join and some are open to non-members.Specialist and Regional Groups
The Geological Society, UK. The Regional Groups are: The Specialist Groups are:

Publications

The society publishes two of its own journals, the (formerly ''Quarterly'') '' Journal of the Geological Society'' and the '' Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology''. It also publishes the magazine '' Geoscientist'' for Fellows, and has a share in '' Geology Today'', published by Blackwell Science. It also co-publishes journals and publishes on behalf of other organisations. These include '' Petroleum Geoscience'' with the European Association of Geoscientists and Engineers (EAGE), '' Geochemistry: Exploration, Environment, Analysis'' with the Association of Applied Geochemists (AAG), ''

Journal of Micropalaeontology A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: * Bullet journal, a method of personal organization * Diary, a record of what happened over the course of a day or other period *Daybook, also known as a general journal ...

'' for the Micropalaeontological Society, ''

Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society The Yorkshire Geological Society is a learned, professional and educational charity devoted to the earth sciences, founded in 1837. Its work is centred on the geology of Yorkshire, and the north of England more generally, ranging from Northumbria ...

'' for the Yorkshire Geological Society, and ''

Scottish Journal of Geology Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English * Scottish national identity, the Scottish id ...

'' for the Geological Societies of

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

Past presidents

The society counts many famous geologists amongst its past presidents. These include pioneers of geology William Buckland,

Adam Sedgwick Adam Sedgwick (; 22 March 1785 – 27 January 1873) was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. He proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale. Based on work which he did on ...

, Roderick Impey Murchison,

Charles Lyell Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known as the author of '' Principles of Geol ...

, Henry Thomas De la Beche, T.H.Huxley, Joseph Prestwich, Archibald Geikie, Jethro Teall, and Charles Lapworth. Later well-known names include Alfred Harker,

Arthur Trueman Sir Arthur Elijah Trueman (26 April 1894 – 5 January 1956) was a British geologist. Life Trueman was born in Nottingham, the son of Elijah Trueman, a lacemaker, and his wife Thirza Newton Cottee. He was educated at High Pavement School in ...

, H.H.Read, and Frederick Shotton, and

Janet Watson Janet Vida Watson FRS FGS (1923–1985) was a British geologist. She was a professor of Geology at Imperial College, a rapporteur for the International Geological Correlation Program (IGCP) (1977–1982) and a vice president of the Roya ...

Scientific awards and funds

In 1831 it began issuing an annual scientific award for geology, known as the Wollaston Medal. This is still the Society's premier medal, which in 2006 was awarded to James Lovelock, the originator of the

Gaia Hypothesis The Gaia hypothesis (), also known as the Gaia theory, Gaia paradigm, or the Gaia principle, proposes that living organisms interact with their inorganic surroundings on Earth to form a synergistic and self-regulating, complex system that helps ...

Medals awarded by the Society

* Wollaston Medal * Lyell Medal * Murchison Medal *

Prestwich Medal The Prestwich Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established in the will of Joseph Prestwich "to apply the accumulated annual proceeds...at the end of every three years, in providing a Gold Medal to the value of Twenty Pounds whi ...

William Smith Medal The William Smith Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London, awarded for outstanding research in applied or economic geology. It was first awarded in 1977. It is named after William Smith. Smith Medalists SourceGeological Societyh2 ...

Aberconway Medal The Aberconway Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London, formerly awarded annually by the Institution of Geologists but since that Institution's merger with the Geological Society in 1991 it has been awarded biennially by that society. ...

* Dewey Medal *

Major John Sacheverell A'Deane Coke Medal Major (Commandant (rank), commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with ...

* Major Edward D'Ewes Fitzgerald Coke Medal * Sue Tyler Friedman Medal *

Bigsby Medal The Bigsby Medal is a medal of the Geological Society of London established by John Jeremiah Bigsby. It is awarded for the study of American geology. Recipients SourcThe Geological Society See also * List of geology awards This list of ge ...

Funds administered by the Society

The Wollaston Fund ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

* The Murchison Fund * The Lyell Fund *

The R. H. Worth Prize ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

The William Smith Fund ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...

The Distinguished Service Award ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Bibliography

* Herries Davies, G.L. (2007) ''Whatever is Under the Earth: The Geological Society of London 1807 to 2007'', London : Geological Society,

References

External links

The Geological Society

The Lyell Collection

GSL publications
{{DEFAULTSORT:Geological Society Learned societies of the United Kingdom Scientific organizations established in 1807 1807 establishments in England Scientific organisations based in the United Kingdom Publishing companies of the United Kingdom