The Map that Changed the World by Simon Winchester

William Smith, a self-taught geologist and canal engineer, had the idea of a map that showed the underground strata of England. He collected rocks and fossils of small animals that he used to date the strata. He traveled all over England and spent years making a map and published it; but before it made money for him, he lost everything and was put in debtors prison. With some help from friends he got out of prison. His maps were plagiarized. He left London and lived simply. Eventually his contributions were recognized, he was given official honors with apologies, and made a good financial recovery. So the book has a pleasant ending.

As usual, Winchester keeps the reader's interest. He makes a good case for Smith's importance. He tends to dwell on Christianity holding back scientific discovery because of its insistence on a young earth. It seems to me that there are more innocent explanations, like whole continents were not thought to move, and who thought that tops of mountains were once under oceans!