James D. Dana summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see James D. Dana.

James D. Dana, (born Feb. 12, 1813, Utica, N.Y., U.S.—died April 14, 1895, New Haven, Conn.), U.S. geologist, mineralogist, and naturalist. He graduated from Yale University in 1833. He joined a U.S. exploring expedition to the South Seas (1838–42), acting as a geologist and zoologist. His contributions to the American Journal of Science stimulated U.S. geologic inquiry. His research into the formation of the Earth’s continents and oceans led him to believe in the progressive evolution of the Earth’s physical features over time. By the end of his life he also came to accept the evolution of living things, as articulated by Charles Darwin. During his lifetime, and largely under his leadership, U.S. geology grew from a collection and classification of unrelated facts into a mature science.

coral reef Summary

Coral reef, ridge or hummock formed in shallow ocean areas by algae and the calcareous skeletons of certain coelenterates, of which coral polyps are the most important. A coral reef may grow into a permanent coral island. Often called the “rainforests of the sea,” coral reefs are home to a

mineral Summary

Mineral, naturally occurring homogeneous solid with a definite chemical composition and a highly ordered atomic arrangement; it is usually formed by inorganic processes. There are several thousand known mineral species, about 100 of which constitute the major mineral components of rocks; these are

evolution Summary

Evolution, theory in biology postulating that the various types of plants, animals, and other living things on Earth have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations. The theory of evolution is one of the

zoology Summary

Zoology, branch of biology that studies the members of the animal kingdom and animal life in general. It includes both the inquiry into individual animals and their constituent parts, even to the molecular level, and the inquiry into animal populations, entire faunas, and the relationships of