William Buckland
Geologist, Academic
1784 – 1856
Who was William Buckland?
William Buckland DD FRS was an English theologian who became Dean of Westminster. He was also a geologist and palaeontologist, writing the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus. His work proving that Kirkdale Cave had been a prehistoric hyena den, for which he was awarded the Copley Medal, was praised as an example of how scientific analysis could reconstruct events from the distant past. He was a pioneer in the use of fossilised faeces, for which he coined the term coprolites, to reconstruct ancient ecosystems.
Buckland was a proponent of the Gap Theory that interpreted the biblical account of Genesis as referring to two separate episodes of creation separated by a lengthy period; it emerged in the late 18th and early 19th centuries as a way to reconcile the scriptural account with discoveries in geology that suggested the earth was very old. Early in his career he believed that he had found geologic evidence of the biblical flood, but later became convinced that the glaciation theory of Louis Agassiz provided a better explanation, and he played an important role in promoting that theory in Great Britain.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- Mar 12, 1784
Axminster - Also known as
- Баклэнд, Уильям
- Children
- Religion
- Anglicanism
- Profession
- Education
- Corpus Christi College, Oxford
- Winchester College
- University of Oxford
- Lived in
- Axminster
- Died
- Aug 14, 1856
Islip
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"William Buckland." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 3 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/william_buckland>.
Discuss this William Buckland biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In