Dana, James Dwight (1813 - 1895)

Summary

James Dana was one of the foremost geologists and mineralogists in the United States in the nineteenth-century. After completing his studies he served in the U.S. Navy and was for several years assistant in the chemical laboratory at his alma mater Yale College. In 1838 he was appointed geologist and mineralogist to the United Stated Exploring Expedition under the command of Charles Wilkes. The Expedition was to conduct a scientific and hydrologic survey of the Pacific islands, Antarctica and the northwest coast of America. Dana spent three months in New South Wales after the Expedition arrived in November 1839. During this time he investigated the coal measures and collected fossils at Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, and explored the Illawarra district with William B. Clarke. His detailed conclusions of these investigations of the palaeontology and stratigraphy, published in 1849, supported Clarke's opinion as to the formation of the coal beds. The Expedition returned to the U.S. in June 1842. He spent the next few years preparing his reports on the Expedition. Dana was Silliman Professor of Natural History and Geology, Yale College from 1850 to 1892. In 1882 the Royal Society of New South Wales awarded him its Clarke Medal.

Details

Chronology

1833

Education - Graduated from Yale College, New Haven Connecticut, U.S.A.

1833 - 1835

Career position - Teacher of mathematics to midshipmen in the Navy

1836 - 1837

Career position - Assistant, Chemical laboratory, Yale College, New Haven Connecticut, U.S.A.

1837 - 1842

Career position - Mineralogist and geologist, United States Exploring Expedition, commanded by Charles Wilkes

29 November 1839

Career event - Arrived in Sydney with the United States Exploring Expedition

19 March 1840

Career event - Departed from Sydney with the United States Exploring Expedition

1850 - 1892

Career position - Silliman Professor of Natural History and Geology, Yale College, New Haven Connecticut, U.S.A.

1854

Award - Elected Member, American Philosophical Society

1874

Award - Wollaston Medal, Geological Society of London

1877

Award - Copley Medal, Royal Society, London

1882

Award - Clarke Medal, Royal Society of New South Wales

1890

Career position - President, Geological Society of America

Related entries

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Microfilm Collection, MS 067; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details
• William Branwhite Clarke - Records, 1842 - 1876, MS 028; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Clarke Family Papers - Records, 1789 - 1879, ML MSS 139; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

Published resources

Books

• Dana, James D., United States Exploring Expedition during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842 under the command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N.: geology (New York: Geo. P. Putnam, 1849), 756 pp. Details
• Gilman, Daniel C., The life of James Dwight Dana: scientific explorer, mineralogist, geologist, zoologist, professor in Yale University (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1899), 409 pp. Details

Book Sections

• Mozley, Ann, 'Dana, James Dwight (1813-1895), mineralogist and geologist' in Australian dictionary of biography, volume 1: 1788 - 1850 A-H, Douglas Pike, ed. (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1966), pp. 278-279. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dana-james-dwight-1953. Details
• Stoddart, David R., 'This Coral Episode: Darwin, Dana and the Coral Reefs in the Pacific' in Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific, Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock, eds (Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1994), pp. 21-48. Details

Conference Papers

• Middleton, R. G.; Jones, B. G.; and Carr, P. F., 'James Dwight Dana and Sydney Basin Geology', in Useful and Curious Geological Enquiries Beyond the World: Pacific-Asia Historical Themes: The 19th International INHIGEO Symposium, Sydney, Australia, 4-8 July, 1994 edited by D. F. Branagan and G. H. McNally (Sydney: International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences, 1994), pp. 163-171.. Details

Journal Articles

• Carr, Paul F.; Jones, Brian G.; and Middleton, Robert G., 'James Dwight Dana in Australia and the glendonite connection', Australian journal of mineralogy, 22 (2) (2020), 5-12. Details
• Hayward, Bruce, 'Darwin, Dana, Dieffenbach and Taylor's observations on the Bay of Islands‒Kaikohe Volcanic Field, 1835-1843', Journal of historical studies, Geoscience Society of New Zealand, 84 (2025), 13-28, https://ndhadeliver.natlib.govt.nz/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE93937863. Details
• Igler, David, 'The questions they asked: Joseph Banks and naturalists in the Pacific Ocean', Journal for maritime research, 21 (1/2) (2019), 62-75. https://doi.org/10.1080/21533369.2019.1705574. Details
• Mason, Alan, 'In the beginning: James Dwight Dana and the Wilkes Expedition', Historical Studies Group Newsletter (Geological Society of New Zealand), 31 (2006), 16-33. Details
• Moyal, Ann, 'Friends, Savants and Founders: W.B. Clarke and J.D. Dana', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 145 (2012), 54-8. Details
• Mozley, Ann, 'James Dwight Dana in New South Wales, 1839-1840', Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, 97 (1964), 185-91. Details
• Truswell, Elizabeth M., 'Encounters with James Dwight Dana', TAG: Geological Society of Australia Newsletter, 164 (2012), 23-7. Details

Resources

• Wikidata, http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q315366. Details
• VIAF - Virtual International Authority File, OCLC, https://viaf.org/viaf/27128721. Details
• 'Dana, James Dwight (1813-1895)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1181881. Details

See also

• Tate, Ralph, 'Inaugural address', Report of the fifth meeting of the Ausatralasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 5 (1893), 1-69. Pp. 15-6. Details