Maclure of New Harmony: Scientist, Progressive Educator, Radical Philanthropist

5 The Maclurean Era of American Geology

51 The Maclurean Era of American Geology Retiring from commerce in his early thirties, Maclure took up geological study and exploration to fill his hours because “it has always appeared to me that the science of geology was one of the simplest and easiest to acquire :thenumberof names tobe learnedis small,andthepresent nomenclature although rather generic than specific, is not difficult.”1 Geology entailed travel, which satisfied his wanderlust, and as a man of commerce, he was keenly aware of geology’s relevance to mining and agriculture; geological inquiry was prelude to commercial exploitation. HisinterestingeologydevelopedduringhisearlydaysinPhiladelphia, where he had carried out some geological field studies—a rank novice and amateur. But, in fact, as with so many crucial elements in his story, the originsofhisinterestingeology ,preciselywhenhisinterestingeologybecame serious, and the details of his geological education remain unknown. It is likelythataftertakingpartinmanyfieldtripsintheUnitedStatesandrecognizinghisprofessionalinadequacy ,hefeltitnecessarytoacquireageological education, and this advancement could only be achieved in Europe. Science was not part of the culture of the time in America. Rather, America was a land of pragmatists who demanded an immediate return for their labor, which was hardly possible with so new a subject as geology. Five • 52 · Maclure of New Harmony A vigorous democratic spirit found expression in practical achievement. As deTocquevillewrote:“InAmericathepurelypracticalpartofscienceisadmirably understood, and careful attention is paid to the theoretical portion which is immediately requisite to application. On this head, the Americans alwaysdisplayaclear,free,originalandinventivepowerofmind.Buthardly anyone in the United States devotes himself to the essentially theoretical and abstract portion of human knowledge.”2 Even an enlightened intellect like Jefferson had little appreciation of the promise of geology.3 Maclurewasakindofhybrid,aninternationalistwithEuropeanroots in geology, and so he was not entirely a pragmatic rock collector. He was also concerned with larger problems such as the structure and significance of volcanoes and the origin of basalt. He berated his countrymen for ignoring what they thought was not useful, for not being interested in the “nature and properties of rocks” and where they are situated on the surfaceoftheearth.Indeed,“evennow . . . [thelearnedandtheunlearned] treatsuchinvestigationswithcontemptasbeneaththeirnotice.”Whythis should be so, he found puzzling, but as a budding radical social reformer, whichMaclurebecame,hehinteddarklythattheanswerlayin“thenature and origin of the power of the few, over the many.”4 Around 1800, the study of geology in America was in a backward state, almost no systematic work was being done, and opportunities for training in America were virtually nonexistent. This at a time when in Europe the scientific discipline of geology was maturing and becoming more technical and detailed with a language of its own, so that training to become a professionalgeologistrequiredprolongedstudy;thetinkeringamateurwas marginalized,andAmericanscouldonlyfollowthegreatgeologicaldebates from afar. At the time, little or no science of any kind was included in the curriculaofAmericanorEnglishcolleges,whosetaskwastoprepareyoung mentobecomedoctors,lawyers,andclergymen,anditwashopedthatother students would benefit from exposure to the classics.5 TheexplicitreasonsforMaclure’seight-yearvisittoEurope(1800–1808) are conjectural, as it was for many of his seemingly sudden and idiosyncratic relocations. Many years later, he wrote that he had hoped that his European explorations would enable him to construct a geologic map of Europe, but this was not to be.6 ItisalmostcertainthatheattendedsomelecturesbyAbrahamG.Werner , professor of mineralogy at the School of Mines at Freiburg, a brilliant The Maclurean Era of American Geology · 53 teacher who offered him the elements of the emerging science of geology at adescriptivelevel—the“facts”strungtogetherbyanaccessiblenarrative,all ofwhichcouldbemasteredbythediligent.7 Hiseducationseemedtobeunstructuredandinformalashepickedupinformationhereandthere ,viewed collections,readbookswhichhewasconstantlybuying,andconversedwith those with geological knowledge. He spent time learning in Edinburgh, London, and Paris, and he told a friend, Duke Bernhard, that he had spent 1802 in Berlin associating with “learned men.”8 He just soaked up information as best he could, and he continued to do so throughout his life. He also did as much fieldwork as time would permit, and by the end of hisfirstextendedEuropeansojournin1808,hehadinvestigatedthegeology, mineralogy, and natural resources of almost every European country— from Russia to Ireland and from the Baltic to the Mediterranean—usually in the company of a geologist whose expenses were paid by Maclure. From timetotimeheshippedboxesofrocksandmineralstotheUnitedStatesfor distribution among the earliest American museums and collections.9 Painstaking experimentation, necessary for the validation of new theories in the furtherance of science, was not Maclure’s approach, for it did not suit his restless temperament. There is little doubt that Maclure was thoughtful and creative, but his classrooms were rock formations, factories, chemical works, and mines—instruments of the burgeoning Industrial Revolution—not the laboratory. Maclure’s active years correspond precisely with the period when great controversies were being resolved about the formation of...