The field of geology is studded by a lot of notable names that anyone
would recognize in a heartbeat. One great name though that isn’t heard
of very often is that of James Dwight Dana’s. During his time, he made
massive contributions to the field of geology, mineralogy, volcanology,
and zoology. He was one of the people who pioneered the study of
mountain-building, the origin and structures of all the continents and
oceans, and volcanic activity. Indeed, he was a man that proved to be
relentless in his desire to understand the earth and he was one of the
reasons why the modern world knows so much about the earth and how it
came to be. Indeed, he was a man that did wonderful work and one name
that deserves to be remembered and lauded.
Early life
James Dwight Dana was born in Utica, NY, way back on February 12,
1813. His parents were Harriet Dwight and James Dana who worked as a
merchant. Through his mother’s side of the family, he was related to the
Dwight Family of New England who were missionaries and educators. Some
of his relatives included Henry Otis Dwight and Harrison Gray Otis
Dwight. James Dwight showed an interest in science at a very young age
and this interest was fostered by one of his teachers in Utica high
school. The teacher was fay Edgerton and she had a big role towards
making sure that young James developed his interest in science. In the
year 1830, he graduated high school and enrolled in in Yale College
where he got the chance to study under the elder Benjamin Silliman. He
graduated from Yale College three years after in the 1833 and spent the
next two years of his life working as a teacher to midshipmen in the
navy to whom to taught math to. He got the chance to sail to the
Mediterranean while he was teaching.
His career
In the years 1836 and 1837, James Dwight Dana took on a job as
assistant to Benjamin Silliman who was a professor at Yale and headed
the chemical department. Four years after his assistant post, he moved
on to become a mineralogist and a geologist for the US Exploring
Expedition which was headed by Capt. Charles Wilkins. The expedition
took him all the way to the Pacific Ocean where he found enough material
to keep him occupied for the next 13 years of his life. The expedition
ended in 1942 and he had notebooks filled with sketches, maps, diagrams,
and views of Castle Craggs and well as Mount Shasta. In the year 1849,
his sketch of Mounts Shasta was engraved and published in the American
Journal of Science an Arts- a publication spearheaded by Silliman in the
early 1800s. The publication also published a rather lengthy article
based on Dana’s geological notes from 1841. The article talked about
rocks, minerals, and the geology of the Shasta region using scientific
terms. The year 1844 was an exciting year for James Dwight Dana because
not only did he become a resident of New Haven but it was also the year
he got married to Henrietta Frances Silliman- she was the daughter of
Benjamin Silliman.
In the year 1850, he was given a big honor and was appointed as the
successor to his father-in-law and became a Silliman Professor of
Natural History and Geology in Yale. Dana held on to this teaching spot
until 1892. But teaching wasn’t all he did during those years because in
1846, he joined the American Journal of Science and Arts and took on
the role as joint editor. During the later years of his life though, he
moved on to become chief editor but he was also a contributor and
published works on the subject of geology and mineralogy.
Notable works
It has to be said that he managed to accomplish a lot but he had a
couple of contributions that really stood out. For instance, his 1849
publication of Mount Shasta was in response to the gold rush in
California. After all, he was the pre-eminent geologist in the US during
his life and he really was just one of the very few observers who had
knowledge of the terrain in northern CA. Dana was the guy who wrote that
given the geography and geology of the area, it was very likely that
gold could be found in northern CA.
James Dwight Dana was also responsible for giving the world
information about the volcanic landscape and activity in Hawaii. It was
in the years 1880 and 1881 that he went on the first geological study of
volcanoes in Hawaii and he was the same guy who theorized that the
chain of volcanoes in the area consisted of two strands known as the
“loa” and the “kea” strands. That wasn’t his first and last visit though
because in 1890, he went with C.E. Dutton, a fellow geologist, and
again published a manuscript about the island that was the most detailed
study anyone had ever seen at that time. For decades, his manuscript
was the definitive source for Hawaii’s volcanoes.
Publications
Dana was a prolific writer but some of his best works are his System
of Mineralogy (1837), Manual of Geology (1863), and his manual of
Mineralogy (1848). He also had a very interesting manuscripts published
which were entitled Science and the Bible which he wrote in an effort to
reconcile science with some biblical texts. Not only did his works get a
lot of attention and used in schools but he also received a lot of
awards like the Copley Medal in 1877 from the Royal Society, the
Wollaston medal in 1874 from the Geological Society of London, and the
Clarke medal in 1882 from the Royal Society of New South Wales.
The final journey
James Dwight Dana died on April 14, 1895. He had a son named Edward
Salisbury Dana who was also a well-known and brilliant mineralogist
during the years 1849-1935.
