Who was Adam Sedgwick?
Sedgwick was born in The Yorkshire Dales in 1785 and at the age of eighteen came to study Mathematics at Trinity College Cambridge. Although a gifted mathematician, Sedgwick moved into the field of geology, a subject he dabbled in and was given a ‘chair'(fancy term for becoming a lecturer) in this subject at the age of 33, in 1818. From this point on, Sedgwick was addicted to his new subject, geology and spent the summer months surveying the rock strata across much of Britain. It was this meticulous work that lead to Sedgwick describing the Cambrian system; the period of the earth’s history from 570- 515 million years ago. As well as being a great scientist, Sedgwick’s other passion was religion. His father was the local vicar in his home village of Dent in Yorkshire and following in his father’s footsteps, Adam Sedgwick took a position as a ‘canon’ at Norwich Cathedral in 1834. From thence, Sedgwick began a life where he divided his work into two areas, scientific and ecclesiastical.
