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Chapter 5 - Mother Earth

Gender and Geology in the 1830s

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 May 2024

John Gardner
Affiliation:
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
David Stewart
Affiliation:
Northumbria University, Newcastle
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Summary

The 1830s was a golden age for geology in Britain, in which at least three decades of commitment to patient observation, inductive reasoning, and fieldwork had led to a newfound public confidence for the science. Historians have long argued that a cult of masculinity emerged in response to this climate: physically and intellectually robust, the ‘gentleman geologist’ alone could be trusted to make reliable observations of the Earth without lapsing into theological or evolutionary speculation. Focussing on the work of three women geologists – Maria Graham, Charlotte Murchison, and Maria Hack – this chapter argues against this male history of geology. Paying attention to the deeply intertwined labours of male and female geologists in this period reveals that gender was a tool in a serious debate about the role of the body – of the emotions and the senses – in scientific observation. Was it possible, geologists asked, to apprehend the natural world entirely unencumbered by emotion, attachment, or the vagaries of the senses? What kinds of bodies could encounter the Earth in its most extreme guises and still achieve the right philosophical perspective and detachment?

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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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  • Mother Earth
  • Edited by John Gardner, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, David Stewart, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Nineteenth-Century Literature in Transition: The 1830s
  • Online publication: 30 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268486.006
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  • Mother Earth
  • Edited by John Gardner, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, David Stewart, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Nineteenth-Century Literature in Transition: The 1830s
  • Online publication: 30 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268486.006
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Mother Earth
  • Edited by John Gardner, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, David Stewart, Northumbria University, Newcastle
  • Book: Nineteenth-Century Literature in Transition: The 1830s
  • Online publication: 30 May 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009268486.006
Available formats
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