The Wernerian Natural History Society was formed in Edinburgh in January 1808 by nine scientists and laymen, presided over by Robert Jameson (1774-1854), and in honour of the illustrious Abraham Gottlob Werner of Freiberg. Werner (1750-1817) was a German geologist and mineralogist who helped to establish geology and mineralogy as two distinct sciences and became the first scientist to classify minerals systematically. He believed that rock strata were either sediments originally deposited at the bottom of the sea or were crystallised deposits precipitated from sea-water. This school of geological thought emphasising water as the chief agent in rock formation came to be known as Neptunism, as opposed to the Vulcanist school of which James Hutton (1726-1797) was the main proponent. It could not, however, explain the origin of insoluble igneous rocks, and much of his theory was discredited. The Wernerian Natural History Society was formed ostensibly for the purpose of promoting the study of the Sciences and of Natural History in particular. It attracted many members and remained in existence for almost 50 years, with Jameson remaining its president until his death in 1854. During these years eight volumes of memoirs were published, to which Jameson contributed more than a dozen papers on geological and mineralogical topics, as well as a few on zoology and botany.
From the guide to the Records of the Wernerian Natural History Society, 1808-1858, (Edinburgh University Library)
