John William Dawson : faith, hope, and science / Susan Sheets-Pyenson.

Author
Sheets-Pyenson, Susan, 1949- [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Montreal ; Buffalo : McGill-Queen's University Press, ©1996.
Description
274 pages, 13 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 24 cm

Availability

Copies in the Library

Location Call Number Status Location Service Notes
ReCAP - Remote StorageQE22.D3 S54 1996 Browse related items Request

    Details

    Subject(s)
    Library of Congress genre(s)
    Rare books genre
    Summary note
    • Drawing on Dawson's correspondence and personal papers, Susan Sheets-Pyenson paints an intimate portrait of a pivotal figure in Canada's scientific heritage and a proper Victorian gentleman whose pious Presbyterianism, missionary zeal, and unwavering belief in the light of knowledge drove him on a quest to conquer ignorance, prejudice, and bigotry.
    • Dawson was born and raised in Pictou, Nova Scotia, where the many sandstone and coal formations provided fertile ground for his first scientific explorations and eventually brought him into contact with the leading geological minds of his day, Charles Lyell and William Logan, and culminated in the publication of Acadian Geology. He became principal of McGill University in 1855 and over the next forty years worked unceasingly to transform McGill from a "tiny, poverty-stricken provincial school" into a scientific institution of the highest rank. He was the only person to hold the presidency of both the American and British associations for the advancement of science. Dawson's energetic promotion of scientific institutions in Canada remains one of his most enduring legacies, particularly his role in creating the Royal Society of Canada
    Bibliographic references
    Includes bibliographical references (p. [213]-267) and index.
    ISBN
    • 077351368X ((acid-free paper))
    • 9780773513686 ((acid-free paper))
    LCCN
    97126059
    OCLC
    34591936
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