PRESERVING PAPERS OF PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS: THE HISTORY OF GEOLOGY ARCHIVES OF MARTIN RUDWICK, HUGH TORRENS, AND OTHERS, NOW AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCHERS

The history of places, people, and things in the history of the geosciences is facilitated by preserving not only the published record of geoscientists but also the papers of historians so that future work may extend their research instead of having to rediscover and retrace the trails already followed. The history of geology collecting initiative of the OU History of Science Collections seeks to preserve the working papers, research notes, correspondence and other materials of historians of geology to make them readily available for future researchers. The initiative has launched with the papers of Martin J. S. Rudwick (e.g., intellectual history of geohistory, Georges Cuvier, and Charles Lyell); Hugh S. Torrens (e.g., Mary Anning, William Smith, mineral surveyors, geology and the British Industrial Revolution); Kenneth L. Taylor (e.g., geology in the Enlightenment, French geology, and Nicolas Desmarest); and Léo Laporte (George Gaylord Simpson and paleontology, Charles Darwin). These papers are now available. Others in processing are Alexander Ospovat (A. G. Werner and geology in 18th-century Germany); David B. Kitts (history of paleontology, philosophy of the historical sciences, and Charles Darwin); and an international Correspondence Archive (18th-19th-century letters mainly in geology and natural history). In this presentation I will describe the archives already received and explain how scholars can make use of them, show how scholars may apply for short-term visiting fellowships to use them, and indicate the long-term goals and growth of the collecting initiative.

[Note: I plan to come and be physically present if this is accepted as an oral paper, yet I will present virtually if need should arise due to an unanticipated Covid resurgence. Also, this abstract seems to fit the theme of case studies, even if on a meta-level. But if the organizers feel it would be a better fit elsewhere, I would also be willing for this presentation to be given in another History of Geology Division session if there is one.]