He had been elected fellow of the Royal Society in 1815, and he was president of the Geological Society of London in 1827–1829, and to which he contributed a number of research publications. His house then became a meeting place for scientific workers, and during his presidency he held a conversazione open on Sunday evenings to all fellows of the Geological Society. From 1817 to 1841 he contributed to the Edinburgh Review many essays on the progress of geological science, and reviews of the groundbreaking books of William Smith (geologist), Charles Lyell, and Roderick Murchison; he also wrote Notes on the Progress of Geology in England for the Philosophical Magazine (1832–1833).