摘要
In 1878, France hosted the first International Geological Congress on the occasion of the International Exhibition held in Paris that year. The decision to hold such a meeting in France had been taken two years earlier at the Exhibition in Philadelphia. France also wished to host the centenary Congress （102 years in fact, because of the pattern of meetings established after the Second World War）, as this corresponded with the 150th year of the foundation of the Geological Society of France in 1830, on the initiative of Ami Boué and Constant Prévost, who were elected President and Secretary. Happily, this wish was fulfilled （see Figure 1）.
