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The cause of the ice ages was a puzzle to nineteenth-century
climatologists. One of the most popular theories was that the
affected continents must somehow have been hugely elevated and,
like mountains, iced over. However, in this 1885 study of the
problem, James Croll (1821 90) argues that such staggering movement
would have been impossible. Instead, he puts forward a new theory:
that the eccentricity of the earth's orbit changes at regular
intervals over long periods, creating 'great secular summers and
winters'. Adopting a meticulous approach to the facts, he disproves
a host of well-established notions across several disciplines and
makes some remarkable deductions, including the effect of ocean
currents on climate, the temperature of space, and even the age of
the sun. With a focus on logical argument and explanation rather
than mathematics, his book remains fascinating and accessible to
students in the history of science.
James Croll (1821-90) was self-educated, but on gaining a post at
the Glagow Andersonian Museum had the time to explore his academic
interests. Despite his lack of formal training, he quickly became a
leading light of the Scottish Royal Geological Society. Using
physics, mathematics, geology and geography he explored the
pressing scientific questions of the time. In this, his final book,
published in 1889, Croll divides his focus between 'the probable
origin of meteorites, comets and nebulae', the age of the sun and
the impact of the pre-nebular condition of the universe on star
evolution. Using both proven facts and theories, Croll explores the
ideas and hypotheses then current, frequently crediting colleagues
for their work, and building on it. Croll, who from humble
beginnings became a Fellow of The Royal Society and of St Andrew's
University, writes in a style which makes his works accessible to a
lay readership.
This first book by James Croll (1821 90), published in 1875,
includes many of the original geophysical theories that he had
formulated throughout the early years of his career. A
self-educated amateur, Croll obtained work at the Glasgow
Andersonian Museum, which gave him leisure time to pursue his
scientific interests. The fluidity of scientific disciplines at the
time allowed him to virtually invent the field of geophysics, and
his unique insights united ideas previously thought unconnected,
such as using physics to explore the causes of the glacial epochs,
climatic changes and the circulation and temperature of ocean
currents. Croll, whose Stellar Evolution and Its Relations to
Geological Time is also reissued in this series, later became a
Fellow of the Royal Society and of St Andrew's University, but
(possibly because of his non-scientific background) he writes in a
style which makes his works accessible to a lay readership.
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