Book review: Geology and the Pioneers of Earth Science, by Mike Leeder
Jon Trevelyan (UK)
Mike Leeder’s Geology and the Pioneers of Earth Science is an ambitious and absorbing exploration of the intellectual and personal stories behind the transformation of geology in the twentieth century. Published in September 2024, the book positions itself as an account of how the discipline shifted from a largely descriptive, field-based science into the more synthetic, quantitative and planet-wide framework we now call “earth science”.
The author argues that this transition, particularly the surge of innovation in the 1960s, has never been adequately laid out in a single volume. On this point, the book is at its strongest: it fills a gap by spotlighting not only the well-known figures but also a roster of less celebrated, yet deeply influential scientists.
Although he writes with clarity and an obvious command of his material, the book is not pitched at the total beginner. A reader with at least some grounding in geology, maybe at undergraduate level or an interested, well-read amateur wishing to be intellectually stretched, will get the most out of it.
The scientific discussions, while never opaque, assume familiarity with the fundamentals of tectonics, seismology and petrology, and with the historical debates that shaped those fields. This is not a flaw, but rather a reflection of the intellectual terrain the book covers. Leeder is writing for readers who want to understand not only who did what, but how their work fits into the broader evolution of geological and geophysical thought.
The structure of the book is loosely chronological, though anchored more by individuals than by a strict passage of time. This biographical approach allows Leeder to illuminate the interplay between personal background, scientific curiosity and institutional circumstance.
One of the book’s strengths is the way it contextualises the scientists themselves. The author makes a clear effort to discuss their social and institutional environments: how careers were formed, how ideas circulated, and how mid-twentieth-century geopolitics and university structures shaped the emerging earth sciences. These contextual sections humanise the narrative and make the development of earth science feel less like an inevitable progression and more like a dense web of encounters, debates, rivalries and opportunities.
Leeder covers a familiar pantheon of scientists – Arthur Holmes, Alfred Wegener, Inge Lehmann, Andrija Mohorovičić, Beno Gutenberg and Harold Urey, for example – but he does so with a sensitivity to both scientific detail and personal nuance. Holmes’s struggles with radiometric dating, Lehmann’s quiet determination in a male-dominated field, and Wegener’s controversial continental drift hypothesis are all presented with a measured, historically aware touch.
However, the real value of the book lies in its treatment of less widely discussed figures. The most valuable aspect, for me anyway, is Leeder’s choice of protagonists. Rather than rehearse the familiar Holmes–Wegener–Milanković axis in isolation, he highlights a wider cast of individuals whose work underpinned the great conceptual shifts of the twentieth century. Many are people I had encountered only as names in passing. But, here, for the first time, their careers, motivations and scientific contributions are presented in satisfying detail. This alone gives the book a freshness that distinguishes it from more general histories of geology.
Stylistically, the book is engaging without being chatty, and the scientific explanations are woven in with admirable precision. Readers who enjoy the intersection of geology with physics, chemistry and mathematics – the essential multidisciplinary subjects that define earth science – will find much to appreciate. Leeder uses diagrams, historical excerpts and carefully selected quotations to anchor his account in authentic scientific discourse, although some readers might wish for additional illustrations or reproductions of original documents.
Thematically, the book raises interesting questions about how scientific revolutions occur. Leeder does not overstate the “momentous changes” of the 1960s, but he does emphasise the accumulation of conceptual tools – for instance, radiometric dating, seismological mapping, studies of heat flow, geomorphology and palaeoclimatology – that eventually made plate tectonics irresistible. His choice to frame the book around individuals illustrates these developments from the inside, showing how personal persistence, disciplinary cross-fertilisation and sometimes sheer luck contributed to breakthroughs.
If there is a limitation, it is that the book’s focus remains predominantly Western and institutionally centred. The global history of earth science, including Soviet, Japanese, South American, Chinese and Indian contributions, is an expanding field, and while Leeder mentions some non-Western work in passing, the biographical structure naturally concentrates on those with well-documented Anglophone or European careers. This is understandable given the book’s scope and sources, but readers seeking an explicitly global treatment will want to supplement it with other works.
Despite this, Leeder’s narrative succeeds on its own terms: it presents the pioneers of modern earth science with clarity, nuance and respect for their intellectual achievements. It neither romanticises nor diminishes its subjects, but instead situates them within the dynamic shifts of twentieth-century science. For geologists, seismologists, earth scientists and historians of science, the book offers a rewarding blend of biography, intellectual history and disciplinary insight.
In short, Geology and the Pioneers of Earth Science is a thoughtful, well-structured and highly readable contribution to the history of the discipline. While it assumes a certain level of geological literacy, it repays the reader with a rich portrait of the scientific and personal lives that shaped the modern earth sciences. Anyone curious about how our understanding of the Earth evolved, and who the key figures were behind that transformation, will find this book both illuminating and deeply enjoyable.
About the author
Mike Leeder is Emeritus Professor of Environmental Sciences at UEA Norwich and a former Head of Earth Sciences at Leeds University. His last book, Measures for Measure: Geology and the Industrial Revolution was recognised as an ‘Outstanding Academic Text’ by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ALA) and was reviewed by me for Deposits (see link).
Book review: Geology and the Pioneers of Earth Science, by Mike Leeder, Liverpool University Press, Liverpool (2024), hardcover (280 pages) ISBN: 978-1780461069