'Conversations with Little Geologists on the Six Days of Creation' (1878)
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Section from Conversations with Little Geologists on the Six Days of Creation', London: Edward Stanford, 1878. (Tract QP Misc 18). Click to enlarge.
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In the early 19th century a significant number of geologists, such as the
Reverend William Buckland (1784-1856), incorporated their religious beliefs into their interpretation of the science. For most, the discoveries on the
‘Antiquity of Man’ and the publication of Darwin’s ‘On the Origin of the Species’ (1859) broke this connection but conversely it also generated a flurry of activity and publications seeking to retain the traditional view of the Earth’s creation.
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Title page to 'Conversations with Little Geologists on the Six Days of Creation', London: Edward Stanford, 1878. (Tract QP Misc 18)
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The author of this work John William Grover (1836-1892) was a civil engineer who worked in Britain and Venezuela, where he constructed railways, harbours and other water works. He was notably involved in construction of the wrought iron roof of the Royal Albert Hall, the Clevedon Pier and the conservatory of the Royal Horticultural Society.
His publication entitled 'Conversations with Little Geologists on the Six Days of Creation’ (1878), was aimed at children. The text takes a form of a dialogue between a father and his two children who are asking him questions about the creation of the Earth and its long extinct creatures. The accompanying section, clearly based on Buckland’s ‘Ideal section of a portion of the Earth’s Crust…’ from his book ‘Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology’ (1836), cleverly correlates the six days of Biblical Creation with the geological timescale.