alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
alive and well - Geological Society of Australia
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Feature 1Encounters with James Dwight DanaThe bicentenary <strong>of</strong> the birth <strong>of</strong> the American geologistJames Dwight Dana is coming up early next year —Dana was born on 12 February 1813 in Utica, New York.As we approach the year 2013, it seems fitting to celebrate theman <strong>and</strong> his achievements. This is appropriate in <strong>Australia</strong> for anumber <strong>of</strong> reasons, apart from his broad-ranging <strong>and</strong> insightfulcontributions to geology.First, Dana spent some time in <strong>Australia</strong>, albeit a mere threemonths, yet that was sufficient for him to make an impact onthe thinking surrounding a number <strong>of</strong> geological matters herein the mid-nineteenth century. Second, most geologists trainedin <strong>Australia</strong> have encountered Dana’s work as undergraduates.This encounter has been through his textbooks on mineralogy<strong>and</strong> crystallography, subjects that were an abiding passion forDana throughout his life. My own introduction to Dana was atthe very beginning <strong>of</strong> Geology 1 at University <strong>of</strong> Western<strong>Australia</strong> (UWA), <strong>and</strong> I have to confess that I struggled with thegeometry <strong>of</strong> crystal faces at that early stage <strong>of</strong> myundergraduate study!Dana’s System <strong>of</strong> Mineralogy, or more fully A System <strong>of</strong>Mineralogy, Including an Extended Treatise <strong>of</strong> Crystallography,was published in 1837 when he was just 24. It ran to foureditions in his lifetime, <strong>and</strong> many more after his death, with avariety <strong>of</strong> editors, including some by his son, Edward S Dana, <strong>and</strong>including some minor changes in title <strong>and</strong> content. My own copy(sadly now lost) was a 1957 edition <strong>of</strong> A Textbook <strong>of</strong> Mineralogy.The 23rd edition, Dana’s Manual <strong>of</strong> Mineral Science, waspublished in 2007. This contribution to mineralogy alone wouldhave ensured Dana a place in scientific history, but he was somuch more than a mineralogist!A perusal <strong>of</strong> his bibliography shows the breadth <strong>of</strong> hisinterests <strong>and</strong> learning, <strong>and</strong> <strong>of</strong> his willingness to venture into newareas, always with a considered <strong>and</strong> thorough, though sometimespatriotic, approach. Much <strong>of</strong> his output was published in theAmerican Journal <strong>of</strong> Science, in which he played a major rolethroughout his life as editor <strong>and</strong> business supporter. A quickglance at Dana’s bibliography reveals such gems as ‘On thetemperature limiting the distribution <strong>of</strong> corals’ (1844), ‘Thevolcanoes <strong>of</strong> the moon’ (1846), ‘The origin <strong>of</strong> continents’ (1847),‘Coral reefs <strong>and</strong> isl<strong>and</strong>s’ (1851), ‘The plan <strong>of</strong> development <strong>of</strong> thegeological history <strong>of</strong> North America’ (1856), ‘The classification<strong>of</strong> Crustacean’ (1856) <strong>and</strong> ‘On the Appalachians <strong>and</strong> RockyMountains as time boundaries in geological history’ (1863).So the list goes on, right up to his Textbook <strong>of</strong> Geology, the4th edition <strong>of</strong> which was published just before his death in 1895.US Exploring ExpeditionIn a similar fashion to Charles Darwin, James Dana’s life work<strong>and</strong> thought were shaped by his participation, at a young age, ina major exploring expedition. The major influence on Dana’s workbegan with his participation in one <strong>of</strong> the gr<strong>and</strong>est <strong>of</strong> allexploring expeditions. The United States Exploring Expedition(1838–1842, commonly known as the Ex.Ex. or the WilkesExpedition) was set up by the US Government to investigate theSouth Pacific, including venturing into the highest southernlatitudes in search <strong>of</strong> an Antarctic continent. Commerce <strong>and</strong>nationalism were pre-eminent among <strong>of</strong> the aims <strong>of</strong> thisexpedition, but the needs <strong>of</strong> science were also included. Theexpedition had a long gestation period, but naval <strong>and</strong> scientificstaff members were eventually appointed, with the imperious<strong>and</strong> ambitious Charles Wilkes as Comm<strong>and</strong>er. Dana was namedMineralogist to the expedition, with the intention he shouldcover the whole field <strong>of</strong> geology. Other appointments included abotanist, naturalists <strong>and</strong> an ethnographer.On the expedition, Dana eventually covered not only hisdesignated field <strong>of</strong> expertise, but also much <strong>of</strong> the zoology, afterthe retirement <strong>of</strong> the naturalist Joseph Couthouy, who, like manyothers, didn’t get on with Wilkes. The expedition has been <strong>well</strong>documented — suffice it here to say that it achieved a range <strong>of</strong>scientific <strong>and</strong> geographic discoveries, chief among them theestablishment <strong>of</strong> Antarctica as a single continent rather than aseries <strong>of</strong> unconnected isl<strong>and</strong>s. Unfortunately the venture is as<strong>well</strong> remembered for its personal problems as for its geographicachievements. It was the soaring ambition <strong>of</strong> Wilkes — who hasbeen described as ‘narcissistic, domineering <strong>and</strong> insecure to thepoint <strong>of</strong> paranoia’, his treatment <strong>of</strong> his junior <strong>of</strong>ficers, <strong>and</strong> theloss <strong>of</strong> two <strong>of</strong> the expedition’s six vessels, which resulted in hiseventual court-martial.Dana was assigned to the sloop-<strong>of</strong>-war USS Peacock, one <strong>of</strong>the largest <strong>of</strong> the six vessels <strong>of</strong> the expedition, which sailed fromNorfolk, Virginia on 18 August 1838. During the voyage throughthe Atlantic <strong>and</strong> the Pacific, Dana spent much <strong>of</strong> his timecollecting, studying <strong>and</strong> illustrating Crustacea. If for nothing else,Dana could <strong>well</strong> be remembered for his work on the Crustacea,because his report on this group included the first description <strong>of</strong>krill — the species Euphausia superba Dana 1850 is now knownas a key species in the Antarctic ecosystem, <strong>and</strong> may in fact bethe most abundant animal species on the planet!But Dana was a geologist, <strong>and</strong> when opportunity afforded,he made excursions ashore, making geological observations <strong>and</strong>collecting specimens. Surveys <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> the isl<strong>and</strong>s in thePacific provided him with opportunities to study both coral reefs<strong>and</strong> volcanic isl<strong>and</strong>s, subjects to which he was to return throughoutthe rest <strong>of</strong> his career.TAG September 2012| 25