Dr. Dewey Hall Gives GeoWeek Talk

This year's GeoWeek in the United Kingdom includes a talk from Dr. Dewey Hall, on "The Matter of the Lakes: Wordsworth, Otley, Mountains, and Weather in 1823." According to Dr. Hall:

Rather than posting pictures on what we would call social media nowadays akin to those who traveled to enjoy the picturesque scenery (e.g., William Gilpin, Thomas Gray, and Thomas West) in the British Lake District popularized in guidebooks (i.e., travelogues), William Wordsworth, the famed Lake District poet, and Jonathan Otley, the naturalist, distinguished themselves from previous guidebook writers. Wordsworth's and Otley's writing, instead, focused on the wonder and splendor of the topography, especially the relationship between the mountains and weather, which is depicted brilliantly through their descriptions of the landscape for landscape's sake.

GeoWeek runs from May 7-15, 2022, throughout various parts of the United Kingdom, which is a national initiative to introduce geoscience to the public. The Geological Society and British Geological Survey are partners supporting the initiative, featured at venues including the Jerwood Centre in Grasmere as part of the Wordsworth Trust, to engage the public through GeoWeek activities including exhibits, talks, field trips, and engagement with nature to discover the topography.