John Horne
PRSE FRS FRSE
Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This s ...
FEGS LLD (1 January 1848 – 30 May 1928) was a Scottish geologist. He served as President of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
from 1915 to 1919.
Life
Horne was born on 1 January 1848, in
Campsie,
Stirlingshire
Stirlingshire or the County of Stirling, gd, Siorrachd Sruighlea) is a historic county and registration countyRegisters of Scotland. Publications, leaflets, Land Register Counties. of Scotland. Its county town is Stirling.
It borders Per ...
, the son of Janet (''née'' Braid) and James Horne of Newmill, a farmer. He was educated at the
High School
A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...
, Glasgow, and the
University of Glasgow
, image = UofG Coat of Arms.png
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of arms
Flag
, latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis
, motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita
, ...
where he studied under Lord Kelvin. He left university without graduating at the age on 19.
In 1867 he joined the Scottish Branch of
HM Geological Survey as an assistant and became an apprentice to
Ben Peach. The two soon became good friends and collaborators. Horne was involved in mapping the
Central Lowlands
The Central Lowlands, sometimes called the Midland Valley or Central Valley, is a geologically defined area of relatively low-lying land in southern Scotland. It consists of a rift valley between the Highland Boundary Fault to the north and ...
. Horne was a logical thinker and writer, complementing Peach's skills of resolving the internal structure of mountains by looking at the surface rocks. Thia approach allowed them to resolve a long-running debate on the "Highlands Controversy" in the 1907 publication of ''
The Geological Structure of the North-West Highlands of Scotland''. After their work in the
Highlands
Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau.
Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to:
Places Albania
* Dukagjin Highlands
Armenia
* Armenian Highlands
Australia
* So ...
, Horne and Peach wrote 'Northwest Highlands Memoir' in 1907. The work is regarded as one of the most important geological memoirs. Horne wrote most of the memoir himself. From 1901 until 1911, John Horne was the Director of the Scottish Branch of the Survey.
[
Horne was elected a Fellow of the ]Royal Society of Edinburgh
The Royal Society of Edinburgh is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was established i ...
in 1881, upon the proposal of Sir Archibald Geikie
Sir Archibald Geikie (28 December 183510 November 1924) was a Scottish geologist and writer.
Early life
Geikie was born in Edinburgh in 1835, the eldest son of Isabella Thom and her husband James Stuart Geikie, a musician and music critic. T ...
, Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, Peter Tait Peter Tait may refer to:
* Peter Tait (physicist) (1831–1901), Scottish mathematical physicist
* Peter Tait (footballer) (1936–1990), English professional footballer
* Peter Tait (mayor) (1915–1996), New Zealand politician
* Peter Tait (r ...
and Robert Gray, and won the Society's Neill Prize for 1889-92. Horne was very active in the affairs of the RSE and served as Councillor (1902-5; 1906-7; 1914–15), Vice-President (1907–13) and President (1915-19).
Horne was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of London
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the judges of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathemati ...
in 1900 and was a Fellow of the Royal Scottish Geographical Society
The Royal Scottish Geographical Society (RSGS) is an educational charity based in Perth, Scotland founded in 1884. The purpose of the society is to advance the subject of geography worldwide, inspire people to learn more about the world around ...
. He also served as President of the Edinburgh Geological Society.
In later life he lived at 12 Keith Crescent in Blackhall, Edinburgh.
He died on 30 May 1928 in Edinburgh.
Family
He was married to Anna Leyland Taylor (d. 1926).
He was grandfather to the psychologist Thomas Arthur Munro.[
]
Recognition
A monument to the work of Peach and Horne was erected at Inchnadamph, close to the Moine Thrust where they did some of their best-known work. The inscription reads: "To Ben N Peach and John Horne who played the foremost part in unravelling the geological structure of the North West Highlands 1883-1897. An international tribute. Erected 1930.".
See also
* Knockan Crag
* Inchnadamph
* North West Highlands Geopark
* Geology of Scotland
References
External links
profile
at www.scottishgeology.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horne, John
1848 births
1928 deaths
People from Stirling
People educated at the High School of Glasgow
Alumni of the University of Glasgow
Presidents of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
Fellows of the Royal Society
Scottish geographers
Scottish geologists
Wollaston Medal winners