"Father of English Geology"

A green City of Westminster plaque marks the spot at 15 Buckingham Street near Charing Cross Station where William 'Strata' Smith lived a in the early 1800s. From his humble beginnings and his work as a canal surveyor, he went on to create the first geological map of a country (England and Wales) in 1815 (the year of the Battle of Waterloo),, The map took 15 years to create and was based upon Smith’s discovery that fossils could be used as indicators to identify specific rock strata, and that these strata appeared in a regular and predictable sequence across the country. The map's reception was muted - Smith was overlooked by the scientific community who looked down their noses at someone without a university education and who had no significant family connections.

Smith spent time in a debtors' prison; he had to leave London in 1819 and never became a member of the Geological Society, but his biostratigraphical theories became the basis of geological mapping. In 1831, Adam Sedgwick, as President of the Geological Society, awarded William Smith the first Wollaston Medal which is still the highest honour bestowed by the organisation. In his citation to Smith, Sedgwick described his personal debt to the man he termed ‘The Father of English Geology’.. Simon Winchester's book titled "The Map that Changed the World" is a gem if you're interested to find out more.