为什么英国维多利亚时代的地学特别发达?

Why Geoscience in the Victorian England Were Well Developed?

维多利亚时代的英国,科学和文化走在世界前列,其中地学的发达引人注目,但是科学史界相关的地学史研究并不多。主要从三个方面分析了英国维多利亚时代地学发达的原因:工业革命和殖民扩张背景下的世界探险和考察活动的流行、地质学和进化论的互相推进、地学的建制化。通过分析看出,科学的发展与其所处的社会情境密切相关,从科学的发展特征可以窥见其所处时代的文化特征和社会风貌。

In Victorian England, science and culture had been at the leading place in the world, especially in geoscience whicla got brilliant development. However, the relevant study of its history has not been sufficient. This article analyzes the reasons of the advancement of geoscience in Victorian England from three aspects： the prevalence of world expeditions in the context of industrial revolution and colonial expansion; the mutual promotion of geology and the evolutionism; the institutionalization of geoscience. Analysis from these reasans shows that the development of science is closely related to certain social environment in which it is located. The cultural and social characteristics of an era could be detected from the developmental features of science.