Gilbert Wilson (geologist)
Gilbert Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 5, 1899 Kendal, England |
| Died | 1986 |
| Alma mater | McGill University (BSc) University of Wisconsin-Madison (MSc) Imperial College, London (PhD) |
| Awards | Murchison Medal (1968) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Structural geology |
| Institutions | Imperial College, London |
| Doctoral students | John G Ramsay, Neville J. Price |
Gilbert Wilson (5 March 1899 – 1986) was a structural geologist, who was best known for his work on small-scale geological structures. He was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1968.
Early life
[edit]Wilson was born in Kendal, in the English Lake District, on 5 March 1899. He was the eldest son of civil engineer Norman Foster Wilson (1869–1948) and Henrietta Gwendolen Meryon, née Harris (b. 1876). His younger brothers were Paul Wilson (1908–1980), who was later a mechanical engineer and life peer, and Edward Wilson (1906–1977), who was later a Spanish scholar.[1]
Wilson was educated at Gresham's School, Norfolk. After completing his schooling, Wilson spent two years serving with the Tank Corps[2] in France and Germany. After the end of the war, Wilson went to McGill University, Montreal, Canada, to study for a degree in mining engineering and geology. [3] In the McGill yearbook for 1924, Wilson identified his hobbies as "Tea, beer and mountains" and his favourite expression as "I’m in love (The reply is 'What! Again?')".[4]
Wilson graduated in 1925, and his interest in structural geology next took him to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study for a masters degree in geology. He worked with geologists Charles Kenneth Leith and W.J. Mead, and learned new skills in identifying the 'way up' of ancient sedimentary rocks.[3] It was here that Wilson became a structural geologist. He is credited with writing a ‘theme song for structural geologists’ which he performed at the 1926 University of Wisconsin Geology Club Banquet, to the tune of Bonny Dundee. This was later reproduced in an issue of the Edinburgh Geological Society's magazine: "There are some rocks that flow while others get broke". [5] After graduating in 1926, Wilson worked briefly in the mining industry, before heading to Imperial college, London, to study for a PhD. He completed his PhD in 1931.
Career
[edit]Wilson taught for a while at the University of Reading, and returned to Imperial College in 1939 as a lecturer in structural geology, teaching the concepts he had learned in Wisconsin. During the 1950s, Wilson’s influence grew as he inspired new students to work in the discipline of structural geology.[6][7][8]
In 1953, he was awarded the Lyell Fund of the Geological Society of London "for his works on structural geology … and studies of granitization and coastal geomorphology". [9] Wilson’s reputation was built on his recognition that the small-scale deformational structures that could be seen in the field in isolated rocky outcrops, would themselves reflect the larger but not directly observable regional structures. Wilson is credited with having brought this idea back from Wisconsin, to Europe.[10] Wilson was awarded the Murchison Medal of the Geological Society of London in 1968. He was made an honorary member of the Geologists' Association in 1975. [11]
Selected works
[edit]Over the course of his career, Wilson published a number of research papers. He published a book during his retirement.
Book
[edit]Wilson, Gilbert (1982). Introduction to Small-Scale Geological Structures. George Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-94-011-6840-3.
Selected papers
[edit]- Wilson, Gilbert (1950). "The tectonics of the Tintagel area, North Cornwall". Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society. 106: 393–432.
- Wilson, Gilbert (1953). "Mullion and rodding structures in the Moine Series of Scotland". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 64: 118–151.
- Wilson, Gilbert (1967). "The geometry of cylindrical and conical folds". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 78: 179–209.
Death
[edit]Wilson died in 1986. As a part of his bequest, he left £1500 to the Geologists' Association. [11]
References
[edit]- ^ Cruickshank, D (2010). "Wilson, Edward Meryon (1906–1977), Spanish scholar". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "2/Lieutenant Gilbert WILSON Tank Corps" – via The National Archives.
- ^ a b de Freitas, M.H.; Rosenbaum, M.S. (May 22, 2008). "Engineering geology at Imperial College London; 1907–2007". Quarterly Journal of Engineering Geology and Hydrogeology. 41 (2): 223–228. doi:10.1144/1470-9236/07-060 – via CrossRef.
- ^ "Old McGill Yearbook". 1924. p. 101.
- ^ "Poets Corner" (PDF). The Edinburgh Geologist. Spring 2001. pp. 25–26.
- ^ "Geological Society of America - Honors & Awards". www.geosociety.org.
- ^ Dott, Jr., R.H. (2001). "The remarkable legacy of the Wisconsin school of precambrian geology" (PDF). Geoscience Wisconsin. 18: 27–40.
- ^ Dewey FRS, J. F.; Graham, R. (April 22, 2023). "John Graham Ramsay. 17 June 1931—12 January 2021". Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society. 74: 363–385. doi:10.1098/rsbm.2022.0031 – via CrossRef.
- ^ "Manchester College of Technology: Jubilee Brochure". Nature. 170 (4339): 1098–1099. December 22, 1952. doi:10.1038/1701098e0 – via www.nature.com.
- ^ Dott, Jr., R.H. (2001). "Wisconsin roots of the modern revolution in structural geology". Geological Society of America Bulletin. 113: 996–1009.
- ^ a b Leake, B.E; Bishop, A.C.; Howarth, R.J. (2013). The Wyley history of the Geologists' Association in the 50 years 1958-2008 (PDF). ISBN 978 0900717 71 0.