ABSTRACT
Since Zittel's time, the establishment of a geohistorical dimension has often been regarded as an important factor – perhaps even as the key element – in the ‘great flowering' of geology. In the older heroic tradition in the historiography of science, the main credit for introducing the effective use of fossils in stratigraphy was given either to William Smith or jointly to Georges Cuvier and Alexandre Brongniart. In fact the evaluation of this decisive new element in geological practice has often been confused by chauvinistic arguments about issues of priority. Smith was a practical man, as much as any Continental geognost; but unlike most of them his early employment was in the one important part of the mining industry – namely coal – that was concerned not with Primary but with Secondary formations.
