Kenneth L. Taylor

Hudson/Torchmark Presidential Professor, Emeritus

A.B. Magna cum laude, History and Science, Harvard University, 1962
A.M., History of Science, Harvard University, 1965
Ph.D., History of Science, Harvard University, 1968

A California native, I came to Oklahoma in 1967. I enjoyed teaching a broad range of History of Science courses at both undergrad and graduate levels. Most of my research has addressed the early development of geology. I chaired the U.S. National Committee on the History of Geology (1990–93), and was President of the History of the Earth Sciences Society (1997–98) and the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (2012–16). My work in the history of geology has been recognized through awards from the national geological societies of three countries: The Geological Society of London’s Friedman Medal (1998), the Geological Society of America’s Rabbitt Award (2007), and the Société Géologique de France’s Prix Wegmann (2018). I served as Department Chair for 14 years. My OU honors include the Glenn Couch Scholars’ Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching (1969), and the Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service (1994).

Contact me

Kenneth L. Taylor
Department of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
The University of Oklahoma
601 Elm, Room 625
Norman, OK 73019
USA

Office Tel: 1-405-325-2213

Email: ktaylor@ou.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Recent Publications

Image of an early effort at a mineralogical map by Philippe Buache, for a 1746 paper by Jean-Etienne Guettard

Translations from the Encyclopédie

Physical Geography, by Nicolas Desmarest (1757)

Basalt of Auvergne, by Nicolas Desmarest (1768)

An image of the Encyclopédie plate (1768) showing the columnar basalt at the town of La Tour d'Auvergne

Notes on Anniversaries for the E-Bulletin of the International Union of Geological Sciences

Basalt, 250 years ago [1768], IUGS E-Bulletin 140, March 2018

Mairan places the question of the Earth's 'central fire' on a new footing [1719], IUGS E-Bulletin 153, April 2019

Scientific examination of the Falun of Touraine, 300 years ago [1720], IUGS E-Bulletin 169, August 2020

Image of Inside the crater of Vesuvius, 1754. Encyclopédie, Recueil de Planches, vol. 6, 1768.

Before volcanoes became ordinary. By Kenneth L. Taylor.
In History of Geoscience: Celebrating 50 years of INHIGEO, edited by Wolf Mayer, Renee M. Clary, Luz F. Azuela, Teresa S. Mota, and Stanislaw Wołkowicz. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 442. doi 10.1144/SP442.27. Published online 2016; print edition 2017.

Photo of INHIGEO excursion participants with fumaroles at crater rim of Vulcano, Aeolian Islands, 1995.

Historians of geology in the field: a half-century of INHIGEO excursions. By Mike R. Johnston and Kenneth L. Taylor.
In History of Geoscience: Celebrating 50 years of INHIGEO, edited by Wolf Mayer, Renee M. Clary, Luz F. Azuela, Teresa S. Mota, and Stanislaw Wołkowicz. Geological Society of London, Special Publication 442. doi 10.1144/SP442.17. Published online 2016; print edition 2017.

Cover of The Earth Sciences in the Enlightenment: Studies on the Early Development of Geology

The Earth Sciences in the Enlightenment: Studies on the Early Development of Geology. Variorum Collected Studies Series. Ashgate Publishing, Aldershot, UK, and Burlington, VT, USA, 2008.

Cover of Studies on Eighteenth-Century Geology

Studies on Eighteenth-Century Geology. By Rhoda Rappaport. Edited with an introduction by Kenneth L. Taylor and Martin J. S. Rudwick. Variorum Collected Studies Series. CS 986, Ashgate Publishing, 2011.

Photo of Ken Taylor at summit of Columbine Peak, Sierra Nevada, 1960.

Names on the Range: Scientists and Science in the Naming of Sierra Nevada Features

A poster presented at the 39th symposium of the International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences (INHIGEO), Asilomar Conference Grounds, California, July 2014.

One of the conference themes was “California’s Place in the History of the Earth Sciences.”

Photo of The OU History of Science Collections’ copy of Encyclopédie Méthodique, Géographie Physique, 4 vols. In 8 parts.

"A Peculiarly Personal Encyclopedia: What Desmarest's Géographie-Physique tells us about his life and work," published in Earth Sciences History, 2013, 32(1): 39-54.