earth science

Henry Benedict Medlicott

Henry Benedict Medlicott is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Henry Benedict Medlicott rather than just read about it. In short: Henry Benedict Medlicott, FRS (3 August 1829 – 6 April 1905) was an Irish geologist who worked in India. He was a coauthor of a text on the geology of India and is credited with the coining of the term "Gondwana" which was later used to create the concept of Gondwanaland.

Key takeaways

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Reference excerpt

Henry Benedict Medlicott, FRS (3 August 1829 – 6 April 1905) was an Irish geologist who worked in India. He was a coauthor of a text on the geology of India and is credited with the coining of the term "Gondwana" which was later used to create the concept of Gondwanaland.

Early life

He was born in Loughrea, County Galway, Ireland, the son of the Church of Ireland Rector of Loughrea, Samuel Medlicott (1796–1858) and his wife Charlotte (c.1814-1884), daughter of Henry Benedict Dolphin, C. B. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin under Thomas Oldham (1816–1875) as well as in France, Guernsey, and Dublin. He obtained a BA in 1850 with diploma in honours in the School of Civil Engineering and an MA in 1870. He was an expert in French and was acquainted with the works of the French geologists. He joined the Geological Survey of Ireland as a general assistant in October 1851 working under Joseph Jukes(1811–1869) and later with the British Geological Survey in Wiltshire before resigning to join the Geological Survey of India in March 1854. On the recommendation of Sir Henry De la Beche (1796–1855), he was given the post of geology professor at Thomason College of Civil Engineering at Roorkee. His brothers Joseph G. Medlicott (d. 1866) and Samuel (c.1831–1889) worked in the Geological Survey of Ireland while Joseph later worked in India.

Career in India

From 15 August 1854 he worked at Roorkee, making trips with Thomas Oldham. He married Louisa, daughter of Reverend Daniel Henry Maunsell, at Landour near Mussoorie on 27 October 1857. In 1857 he served as a volunteer with the garrison of Roorkee against the mutineers and was awarded the Indian Mutiny Medal for Special Service. While at Roorkee, he studied parts of the Narmada Valley and Bundelkhand (in 1854–55 and 1856–57). He worked on the geology of the Lower Himalayas and the Siwalik Beds. Along with his brother Joseph G. Medlicott, he was able to determine the separation of the Cambrian Vindhyan region from the Gondwana. He later worked in various parts of the country such as South Rewa, Bihar, Assam, Khasi Hills, Rajputana, Kashmir, the Satpura ranges and the Garo Hills. On 1 April 1876 he succeeded Dr Oldham to head the Department of Geology and was posted in Calcutta. The position was changed from Superintendent to Director in 1885. Medlicott began to isolate himself from social life and began to live an ascetic life, walking barefoot and editing papers. He wrote Manual of the Geology of India with William Thomas Blanford in 1879 and edited works in the Paleontologica Indica. His writing style was considered intemperate by his contemporaries but he began a policy to allow his subordinates free expression in print, a move that caused resentment among the staff. He was hostile to the promotion of native Indian geologists. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1877 and won the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society in 1888. He was a Fellow of Calcutta University, and from 1879 to 1881 he was President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.

Later days He retired in April 1887 and lived at Clifton Bristol where he continued to research his interests in philosophy and theology. He died on 6 April 1905, leaving behind his wife, two sons and two daughters. His obituarist and colleague Blanford (who died in the same year) noted that he never used "FRS" after his name in any publications.

Legacy He is credited with having suggested the name Gondwana. He used the term to describe stratigraphy of a mostly Permian formation in India. The geologist Eduard Suess noted the widespread Glossopteris fossil flora and called all the regions "Gondwana-Land" and included India, Madagascar and Africa but not Australia.

References

External links A Manual of Geology of India (1879) Volume 1 Volume 2

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Henry Benedict Medlicott

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Henry Benedict Medlicott claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Henry Benedict Medlicott before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Henry Benedict Medlicott ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Henry Benedict Medlicott

In research: Henry Benedict Medlicott appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Henry Benedict Medlicott in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Henry Benedict Medlicott is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1829 births, 1905 deaths, 19th-century Irish geologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Henry Benedict Medlicott outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Henry Benedict Medlicott in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Henry Benedict Medlicott means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Henry Benedict Medlicott out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Henry Benedict Medlicott in simple terms?

Why does Henry Benedict Medlicott matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Henry Benedict Medlicott?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Henry Benedict Medlicott.