23 Facts About Adam Sedgwick

Adam Sedgwick FRS was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology.

Adam Sedgwick proposed the Cambrian and Devonian period of the geological timescale.

Adam Sedgwick was born in Dent, Yorkshire, the third child of an Anglican vicar.

Adam Sedgwick was educated at Sedbergh School and Trinity College, Cambridge.

Adam Sedgwick studied mathematics and theology, and obtained his BA from the University of Cambridge in 1808 and his MA in 1811.

Adam Sedgwick became a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge and Woodwardian Professor of Geology at Cambridge from 1818, holding the chair until his death in 1873.

Adam Sedgwick studied the geology of the British Isles and Europe.

Adam Sedgwick founded the system for the classification of Cambrian rocks and with Roderick Murchison worked out the order of the Carboniferous and underlying Devonian strata.

The investigations into the Devonian meant that Adam Sedgwick was involved with Murchison in a vigorous debate with Henry De la Beche, in what became known as the great Devonian controversy.

Adam Sedgwick employed John William Salter for a short time in arranging the fossils in the Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge, and whom accompanied the professor on several geological expeditions into Wales.

John Ruthven, with whom Adam Sedgwick has a room at Kendal museum co-named after him, frequently accompanied Adam Sedgwick in Wales and beyond.

Adam Sedgwick investigated the phenomena of metamorphism and concretion, and was the first to distinguish clearly between stratification, jointing, and slaty cleavage.

Adam Sedgwick was elected to Fellow of the Royal Society on 1 February 1821.

Adam Sedgwick was president of the Geological Society of London.

Adam Sedgwick told the February 1830 meeting of the Geological Society of London:.

Adam Sedgwick strongly believed that species of organisms originated in a succession of Divine creative acts throughout the long expanse of history.

The entire chapter house of the cathedral refused to sit down with Adam Sedgwick, and he was opposed by conservative papers including The Times, but his courage was hailed by the full spectrum of the liberal press, and the confrontation was a key moment in the battle over relations between Scripture and science.

Adam Sedgwick lashed out at the book in a letter to Charles Lyell, bemoaning the consequences of it conclusions.

However, Adam Sedgwick never accepted the case for evolution made in On the Origin of Species in 1859 any more than he did that in Vestiges in 1844.

Adam Sedgwick was one of 46,000 people paid compensation during the abolition of slavery in the United Kingdom.

Hughes the new building, termed the Adam Sedgwick Museum, was completed and opened in 1903.

The first Adam Sedgwick Prize was awarded in 1873 and has continued into the 21st century.

The Adam Sedgwick Trail follows the River Clough, highlighting rock features and exploring the Dent Fault.