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SEDGWICK, ADAM (1785-1873)

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 578 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SEDGWICK, See also:
ADAM
ADAM (or ADAN) DE LE HALE (died c. 1288)
ADAM, ALEXANDER (1741–1809)
ADAM, JULIETTE (1836– )
ADAM, LAMBERT SIGISBERT (1700-1759)
ADAM, MELCHIOR (d. 1622)
ADAM, PAUL (1862– )
ADAM, ROBERT (1728—1792)
ADAM, SIR FREDERICK (1781-1853)
ADAM, WILLIAM (1751-1839)
ADAM (1785-1873) , See also:

ENGLISH

English geologist, was See also:

BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born on the 22nd of See also:

March 1785 at Dent in See also:

YORKSHIRE

Yorkshire, the second son of See also:

Richard Sedgwick, See also:

VICAR (Lat. vicarius, substitute)

vicar of the See also:

PARISH (Gr. irapouda, district, neighbourhood; 7r&poucos, one dwelling near or beside, from crap&, OtKOS, house; Lat. paroecur, Late Lat. parochia; cf. Fr. paroisse)

parish. He was educated at the See also:

GRAMMAR (from Lat. grammatica, sc. ars; Gr. ypaµ)

Grammar See also:

SCHOOLS

Schools of Dent and See also:

SEDBERGH

Sedbergh, and at Trinity See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

College, See also:

Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. as fifth wrangler in 18o8, and two years later was elected a See also:

FELLOW

Fellow of his college. For several years he was occupied as private See also:

TUTOR (Lat. tutor, guardian, tueri, to watch over, protect)

tutor and afterwards as assistant mathematical tutor at Trinity College. In 1818 he was admitted to priests' orders. He had at this See also:

time paid no serious See also:

ATTENTION (from Lat. ad-tendo, await, expect; the condition of being " stretched " or " tense ")

attention to See also:

GEOLOGY (from Gr. yp7, the earth, and Abyor, science)

geology. As a lad he had collected fossils from the See also:

Mountain See also:

LIMESTONE

Limestone near Dent, and in 1813 he had visited the mines near See also:

Furness and Coniston. Nevertheless, when the Rev. See also:

John Hailstone retired in 1818 from the See also:

POST

post of Woodwardian See also:

PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

professor of geology, Sedgwick applied for the vacancy, and was so strongly supported by his college as a See also:

man of See also:

TALENT (Lat. talentum, adaptation of Gr. TaXavrov, balance, ! Recollections of a First Visit to the Alps (1841); Vacation Rambles weight, from root raX-, to lift, as in rXi vac, to bear, 1-aXas, and Thoughts, comprising recollections of three Continental

talent that he was elected by a large See also:

MAJORITY (Fr. majorite; Med. Lat. majoritas; Lat. major, greater)

majority.. He now took up the study of geology with intense zeal, traversed large areas in the See also:

south of See also:

England, and, becoming acquainted with W. D. See also:

Conybeare, regarded him as his See also:

MASTER (Lat. magister, related to tnagis, more, as the corresponding minister is to minus, less; the English form is due partly to the O. Eng. maegister, and partly to O. Fr. maistre, mod. maitre; cf. Du. meester, Ger. Meister, Ital. maestro)

master in geology. It is astonishing with what rapidity he grasped the principles of stratigraphical geology and the relationships of rocks in the See also:

field.

In papers read before the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 182o-1821, on the structure of parts of See also:

Devonshire and See also:

CORNWALL

Cornwall, he made observations of exceptional See also:

INTEREST

interest and value. Of this society in 1819 he had been one of the founders with J. S. See also:

HENSLOW, JOHN STEVENS (1796-1861)

Henslow. Every See also:

YEAR

year for a See also:

long See also:

period now brought its See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season of field-See also:

WORK

work. Sedgwick dealt with the geology of the Isle of See also:

WIGHT, ISLE OF

Wight, and with the strata of the Yorkshire See also:

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

coast (in papers published in the See also:

ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

Annals of See also:

PHILOSOPHY (Gr. gthos, fond of, and vo4 (a, wisdom)

Philosophy, 1822, 1826); and he examined the rocks of the See also:

north of See also:

Scotland with See also:

MURCHISON, SIR RODERICK IMPEY (1792-1871)

Murchison in 1827. He contributed an important See also:

ESSAY, ESSAYIST (Fr. essai, Late Lat. exagium, a weighing or balance; exigere, to examine; the term in general meaning any trial or effort)

essay On the See also:

GEOLOGICAL

Geological Relations and See also:

INTERNAL

Internal Structure of the .nlagnesian Limestone to the Geological Society of See also:

LONDON

London (1828). As See also:

early as 1822 he had begun to make a detailed geological See also:

map of the older rocks of the See also:

Lake See also:

DISTRICT

District; he continued these researches whereby the See also:

main structure of this mountain region was first unravelled, in succeeding years; and the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal results were brought before the Geological Society (1831-1836). Meanwhile he was elected See also:

PRESIDENT (Fr. president, from Lat. praesidens, post-Augustan Lat. for praeses, director, ruler, from praesidere, to sit in front of, preside)

president of the Geological Society in 1829-183o, and in 1831 he commenced field-work in North See also:

WALES (Cymru, Gwalia, Cambria)

Wales. His See also:

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

chief attention was now concentrated on the older rocks of England and Wales. Murchison began the task of unravelling the structure of the older rocks on the Welsh See also:

BORDERS, THE

borders in the same year. They had intended to start together, but the arrangement: See also:

fell through, and thus they began their labours independently 1I and from opposite sides of the principality.

Eventually Sedgwick founded the See also:

CAMBRIAN

Cambrian See also:

SYSTEM

system for the See also:

OLDEST

oldest See also:

GROUP

group of fossiliferous strata, and Murchison the See also:

SILURIAN

Silurian system for the See also:

GREAT

great group immediately below the Old Red See also:

SANDSTONE

Sandstone. Their systems were found to overlap—Sedgwick's Upper Cambrian and Murchison's See also:

LOWER

Lower Silurian being practically See also:

EQUIVALENT

equivalent. Hence arose a painful controversy that has only of See also:

LATE

late years been terminated by the See also:

ADOPTION (Lat. adoptio, for adoptalio, from adoptare, to choose for oneself)

adoption of Professor C. See also:

LAPWORTH, CHARLES (1842– )

Lapworth's See also:

TERM

term Ordovician in See also:

PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place of the Upper Cambrian of Sedgwick and the Lower Silurian of Murchison. Sedgwick was ever actively interested in the work of his university. His famous Discourse on the Studies of the University of Cambridge, delivered in 1832,was published in See also:

EXPANDED

expanded See also:

FORM (Lat. forma)

form in 1833; it reached a fifth edition in 1850. The studies were reviewed under the headings of (I) The See also:

LAWS

laws of nature, (2) See also:

Ancient literature and See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language, and (3) See also:

Ethics and See also:

metaphysics; and the See also:

VOLUME

volume had so grown that it ultimately consisted of 442 pages of See also:

PREFACE (Med. Lat. prefatia, for classical praefatio, praefari, to speak beforehand)

preface, or preliminary dissertation on the See also:

HISTORY

history of creation, with arguments against the transmutation of See also:

SPECIES

species, and an essay on the evidences of See also:

CHRISTIANITY

Christianity; the discourse occupied 94 pages; and there was an appendix of notes, &c., that filled 228 pages. In 1833 Sedgwick was president of the See also:

BRITISH

British Association at the first Cambridge See also:

MEETING (from " to meet," to come together, assemble, 0. Eng. metals ; cf. Du. moeten, Swed. mota, Goth. gamotjan, &c., derivatives of the Teut. word for a meeting, seen in O. Eng. Wit, moot, an assembly of the people; cf. witanagemot)

meeting, and in 1834 he was appointed a See also:

CANON

canon of See also:

Norwich. In 1836 with Murchison he made a See also:

SPECIAL

special study of the See also:

CULM

Culm-See also:

MEASURES

measures of Devonshire, which until that time had been grouped with the See also:

GREYWACKE, or GRAUWACKE (a German word signifying a grey earthy rock)

greywacke, and together they demonstrated that the main See also:

mass of the strata belonged to the See also:

AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age of the true See also:

COAL

Coal Measures. Continuing their researches into the bordering strata they were able to show in 1839, from the determinations of See also:

William See also:

Lonsdale, that the fossils of the South See also:

DEVON, EARLS OF

Devon limestones and those of See also:

ILFRACOMBE

Ilfracombe and other parts of North Devon were of an intermediate type between those of the Silurian and Carboniferous systems. They therefore introduced the term Devonian for the great group of slates, grits and See also:

lime-stones, now known under that name in See also:

West See also:

Somerset, Devon and Cornwall. These results were published in the great memoir by Sedgwick and Murchison, " On the See also:

PHYSICAL

Physical Structure of Devon-See also:

SHIRE

shire " (Trans.

Geol. See also:

Soc., 1839). Of later published See also:

WORKS

works it will be sufficient to mention A Synopsis of the See also:

CLASSIFICATION (Lat. classis, a class, probably from the root cal-, cla-, as in Gr. icaMce, clamor)

Classification of the British Palaeozoic Rocks (1855), which contained a systematic description of the fossils by F. McCoy. Also the preface by Sedgwick to A See also:

CATALOGUE (a Fr. adaptation of the Gr. KaraXoyos, a register, from Karalyety, to enrol or pick out)

Catalogue of the collection of Cambrian and Silurian Fossils contained in the Geological Museum of the University of Cambridge, by J. W. See also:

SALTER, JOHN WILLIAM (1820-1869)

Salter (1873). The See also:

Wollaston See also:

MEDAL (Fr. medaille, from Lat. metallum)

Medal of the Geological Society was awarded to Sedgwick in 1851, and the See also:

COPLEY, JOHN SINGLETON (1737—1815)

Copley Medal of the Royal Society in 1863. He continued to lecture until 1872, when See also:

ill-See also:

HEALTH

health rendered necessary the See also:

APPOINTMENT, POWER OF

appointment of a See also:

DEPUTY (through the Fr. from a Late Lat. use of deputare, to cut off, allot; putare having the original sense of to trim, prune)

deputy (Professor J. See also:

Morris). He died at Cambridge on the 27th of See also:

JANUARY

January 1873. In 1865 the See also:

SENATE (Lat. senatus, from root sen-, as in senex, old; the root is the Sanskrit sana, cf. Gr. 'vos; the same element appears in senor, seigneur, seneschal)

senate of the university received from A.

A. See also:

Van Sittart the sum of 500 " for the purpose of encouraging the study of geology among the See also:

RESIDENT

resident members of the university, and in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of the Rev. Adam Sedgwick." Thus was founded the Sedgwick See also:

PRIZE, or PRIZE OF WAR (Fr. prise, from prendre, to take)

prize to be given every third year for the best essay on some geological subject. The first Sedgwick prize was awarded in 1873. On the See also:

DEATH

death of Sedgwick it was decided that his memorial should take the form of a new and larger museum. Hitherto the geological collections had been placed in the Woodwardian Museum In See also:

COCKERELL, CHARLES ROBERT (1788-1863)

Cockerell's See also:

BUILDING

Building. Through the See also:

ENERGY (from the Gr. ivipyela; iv, in, ipyov, work)

energy of Professor T. McK. See also:

Hughes (successor to Sedgwick) the new building termed the Sedgwick Museum was completed and opened in 1903. See the See also:

LIFE

Life and Letters,by John See also:

Willis See also:

Clark and See also:

Thomas McKenny Hughes (189o).

End of Article: SEDGWICK, ADAM (1785-1873)

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