The 1820s was known as the diluvial decade. The reference is the search for geological evidence of Noah’s Flood.
The decade was on the cusp of the emergence of geology as a full-blown science in its own right with the publication of Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology; being an attempt to explain the former changes of the earth’s surface, by reference to causes now in operation (1830-1833). Eventually there would be a new “ology” in colleges as knowledge fractured into the silos that define the modern university with diverse specialties and expertise. [Read more…] about Amos Eaton: RPI, Noah and the Erie Canal