THE EARLY GEOLOGICAL MAPS OF THE ISLE OF ARRAN, 1807–1858

Abstract

Research on geological maps has tended to stress the cartobibliographical details whilst ignoring the historical-scientific influences. In this paper, a review is made of the geological maps of the Isle of Arran over the period of fifty years which followed the publication of the earliest map of the island in 1807. The problems arising from the lack of accurate topographic maps of suitable scale and accuracy are discussed and an attempt made to correlate the geological maps with the attendant growth in knowledge of Arran's geology.