What is William Buckland?
{{Infobox scientist |name = William Buckland |image = William Buckland c1845.jpg |image_size = |caption = William Buckland, ca. 1845 |birth_date = {{Birth date|1784|3|12|df=yes}} |birth_place = [[Axminster]], [[Devon]], [[England]] |death_date = {{Death date and age|1856|8|14|1784|3|12|df=yes}} |death_place = [[Islip, Oxfordshire]],<ref>[http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/william-buckland Westminster Abbey]</ref> England<br>[[Tuberculosis]] |residence = |citizenship = |nationality = English |field = [[Palaeontology]] |work_institutions = |alma_mater = [[Winchester College]]<br>[[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]] |known_for = ''[[Megalosaurus]]'' |awards = [[Copley Medal]] (1822) |author_abbrev_bot = |author_abbrev_zoo = }} [[File:Buckland family silhouette.jpg|thumb|Buckland family silhouette]] '''William Buckland''' [[Doctor of Divinity|DD]] [[Royal Society|FRS]] (12 March 1784 – 14 August 1856) was an [[English people|English]] [[theologian]] who became [[Dean]] of [[Westminster]]. He was also a [[geology|geologist]] and [[paleontology|palaeontologist]]. Buckland wrote the first full account of a [[fossil]] [[dinosaur]], which he named ''[[Megalosaurus]]''. He proved that [[Kirkdale Cave]] in [[Yorkshire]] had been a prehistoric [[hyena]] den, for which he was awarded the [[Copley Medal]] of the [[Royal Society]]. He was praised as an example of how scientific analysis could reconstruct events from the distant past. He was a pioneer in the use of fossilized [[faeces]] (he coined the term [[coprolite]]s) to reconstruct ancient [[ecosystem]]s. In 1818, Buckland was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society]]. He became Reader in Geology at [[Oxford University]] in 1819. His work ''Reliquiæ Diluvianæ'' was published in 1823 and became a best seller.<ref>{{cite book| last = Buckland| first = William| title = Reliquiæ Diluvianæ: Or Observations on the Organic Remains Containe