What is William Smith (geologist)?
{{Infobox scientist |name = William Smith |image = William Smith (geologist).jpg |image_size = 200px |caption = William Smith |birth_date = {{Birth date|1769|03|23|df=y}} |birth_place = Churchill, [[Oxfordshire]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|1839|08|28|1769|03|23|df=y}} |death_place = |residence = |nationality = [[English people|English]] |field = [[Geology]] |work_institutions = |known_for = [[Geological map]] |influences = the whole of [[stratigraphy]]}} [[File:Geological map Britain William Smith 1815.jpg|thumb|right|Smith's famous 1815 geological map of part of [[Great Britain]]]] [[File:Geology Map Great Britain.svg|thumb|right|A modern geological map of Britain]] '''William 'Strata' Smith''' (23 March 1769 – 28 August 1839) was an [[English people|English]] [[geologist]], who created the first nationwide [[geological map]]. Like another great scientist of his time, [[Michael Faraday]], he was the son of a [[blacksmith]]. His geological discoveries were made when, as a young man, he was a [[surveyor]], and so travelled the country. Smith's greatest discovery was that [[sedimentary rocks]] of a similar age held [[fossils]] of a similar type. So he could identify them when they were at the surface in different parts of the country. Smith put together the [[historical geology]] of [[Britain]] ([[England]] and [[Wales]]) and southern [[Scotland]] into a single record. At the time his map was published he was almost unknown to the scientific community. His humble family and education meant he did not mix easily in learned society. His work was [[Plagiarism|plagiarised]], he was financially ruined, and he spent time in [[debtors' prison]]. It was only later in his life that Smith got recognition for what he had done. == The map == In 1799 Smith produced the first large scale geologic map of the area around [[Bath, Somerset]]. Before, he only knew how to draw the vertical extent of the rocks, but