Geology was a discipline built to find the resources of our planet. The first real geologic map, crafted by William Smith in 1815, was part of a quest to find fuel for the Industrial Revolution. Smith used his work as a springboard to develop ideas that are essential to our understanding of geologic time. However, at its roots, the study of the Earth was linked to the search for resources.
Things have changed a lot over the past 200 years. The study of our planet, better described as Earth sciences these days, has evolved to be more than just the search for oil, metals and coal. We study the planet to better understand natural hazards, to map out the Earth's climate history and future, to examine the intersection between life and the solid planet, to hypothesize about the origin of life and to really just learn more about where we live.
Of course, the search for resources hasn't ended either. Some of the largest companies on the globe today are ones built on resource extraction: ExxonMobil, BP, BHP, Newmont, Chevron and more. In total, they are worth trillions of dollars and it is through the work of generations of geologists that the world is what is it today: industrialized, swimming in cheap energy and technologically advanced.
