The Map That Changed the World : A Tale of Rocks, Ruin and Redemption

The extraordinary tale of the father of modern geology

Hidden behind velvet curtains above a stairway in a house in London's Piccadilly is an enormous and beautiful hand-coloured map - the first geological map of anywhere in the world.

Its maker was a farmer's son named William Smith. Born in 1769, his life was troubled: he was imprisoned for debt, turned out of his home, his work was plagiarised, his wife went insane and the scientific establishment shunned him.

It was not until 1829, when a Yorkshire aristocrat recognised his genius, that he was returned to London in triumph: The Map That Changed the World is his story.

'For a geologist, this is a must read' Amazon Reviewer

'It serves to lift a genius from academic semi-obscurity and to award him the acknowledgement he undoubtedly deserves' Amazon Reviewer

'Never realised how seminal this map was' Amazon Reviewer