![]() The Map That Changed the World is a very human tale of endurance and achievement, of one man's dedication in the face of ruin. Finally, in 1831, this quiet genius - now known as the father of modern geology - received the Geological Society of London's highest award and King William IV offered him a lifetime pension. But instead of receiving accolades and honors, he ended up in debtors' prison, the victim of plagiarism, and virtually homeless for ten years more. ![]() Determined to expose what he realized was the landscape's secret fourth dimension, Smith spent twenty-two years piecing together the fragments of this unseen universe to create an epochal and remarkably beautiful hand-painted map. He found that by tracing the placement of fossils, which he uncovered in his excavations, one could follow layers of rocks as they dipped and rose and fell - clear across England and, indeed, clear across the world - making it possible, for the first time ever, to draw a chart of the hidden underside of the earth. ![]() In 1793, a canal digger named William Smith made a startling discovery. ![]()
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