SOME YOUTHFUL BELIEFS OF SIR GEIKIE,ARCHIBALD, PRS, AND THE FIRST PUBLICATION OF HIS ON THE STUDY OF THE SCIENCES

Two documents written in his youth by the distinguished nineteenth-cen tury British geologist Archibald Geikie have recently become available to historians. One is Geikie's 'Journal', written when he had recentl y been appointed to the Scottish Branch of the Geological Survey; the other is an essay 'On the Study of the Sciences', which is published h ere in full. The essay gives an indication of Geikie's early views on science and his thoughts about education. The 'Journal' reveals much a bout Geikie's youthful personal fears and goals, and his religious vie ws. It appears that he was filled with religious zeal and piety when a young man, though as far as the evidence goes, this gave way to conve ntional religious observance in later life.