Biography-In Translation-Bangla
By Maitry Roy Moulik. Translated from the original Bangla by Chandana Dutta
William Smith, the ‘living legend’, did have a few sympathetic friends like cartographer and publisher John Cary and Dr Fitton, aristocrat, Member of Parliament, the Royal Society and the Geological Society of London. Yet, Smith was entirely alone in upholding independent research in the fast-changing scenario of industrialization and mechanization of rural Britain.
A lifetime of personal suffering and professional humiliation was partially compensated with the award in 1832 of the first Wollaston Gold Medal, for Smith’s contribution to the emerging science of geology. The ceremony, held in Oxford’s historic Sheldonian Theatre Hall, begins with an eloquent address by a young man, recently enlisted as Professor in the geology department of the university.