Finding oil : the nature of petroleum geology, 1859-1920

Oil Has Made Fortunes, Caused Wars, And Shaped Nations. Accordingly, No One Questions The Idea That The Quest For Oil Is A Quest For Power. The Question We Should Ask, Finding Oil Suggests, Is What Kind Of Power Prospectors Have Wanted. This Book Revises Oil's Early History By Exploring The Incredibly Varied Stories Of The Men Who Pitted Themselves Against Nature To Unleash The Power Of Oil. Brian Frehner Shows How, Despite The Towering Presence Of A Figure Like John D. Rockefeller As A Quintessential Oil Man, Prospectors Were A Diverse Lot Who Saw Themselves, Their Interests, And Their Relationships With Nature In Profoundly Different Ways. He Traces Their Various Pursuits Of Power From 1859 To 1920 As A Struggle For Cultural, Intellectual, And Professional Authority, Over Both Nature And Their Peers. Here We See How Some Saw Power As The Work They Did Exploring And Drilling Into Landscapes, While Others Saw It In The Intellectual Work Of Explaining How And Where Oil Accumulated. Charting The Intersection Of Human And Natural History, Their Story Traces The Ever-evolving Relationship Between Science And Industry And Reveals The Unsuspected Role Geology Played In Shaping Our Understanding Of The History Of Oil. --- Book Description. Vernacular Authority In The Oil Field -- Collaborative Authority : Nineteenth-century Foundations Of Petroleum Geology -- Contested Knowledge -- Shared Authority : Practical Oil Men And Professional Geologists -- Institutional Authority : Field Work, Universities, And Surveys -- Appropriated Knowledge -- Geology Organized : Hhenry I. Doherty's Technological System. Brian Frehner. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Published in Cooperation with the William P. Clements Center for Southwest Studies, Southern Methodist University. Oil has made fortunes, caused wars, and shaped nations. Accordingly, no one questions the idea that the quest for oil is a quest for power. The question we should ask, Finding Oil suggests, is what kind of power prospectors have wanted. This book revises oil's early history by exploring the incredibly varied stories of the men who pitted themselves against nature to unleash the power of oil. Brian Frehner shows how, despite the towering presence of a figure like John D. Rockefeller as a quintessential "oil man," prospectors were a diverse lot who saw themselves, their interests, and their relationships with nature in profoundly different ways. He traces their various pursuits of power from 1859 to 1920 as a struggle for cultural, intellectual, and professional authority, over both nature and their peers. Here we see how some saw power as the work they did exploring and drilling into landscapes, while others saw it in the intellectual work of explaining how and where oil accumulated. Charting the intersection of human and natural history, their story traces the ever-evolving relationship between science and industry and reveals the unsuspected role geology played in shaping our understanding of the history of oil. Purchase the audio edition. Oil has made fortunes, caused wars, and shaped nations. Accordingly, no one questions the idea that the quest for oil is a quest for power. The question we should ask, Finding Oil suggests, is what kind of power prospectors have wanted. This book revises oil’s early history by exploring the incredibly varied stories of the men who pitted themselves against nature to unleash the power of oil.Brian Frehner shows how, despite the towering presence of a figure like John D. Rockefeller as a quintessential “oil man,” prospectors were a diverse lot who saw themselves, their interests, and their relationships with nature in profoundly different ways. He traces their various pursuits of power from 1859 to 1920 as a struggle for cultural, intellectual, and professional authority, over both nature and their peers. Here we see how some saw power as the work they did exploring and drilling into landscapes, while others saw it in the intellectual work of explaining how and where oil accumulated. Charting the intersection of human and natural history, their story traces the ever-evolving relationship between science and industry and reveals the unsuspected role geology played in shaping our understanding of the history of oil. List of IllustrationsAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart 1. Local Knowledge1. Vernacular Authority in the Oil Field2. Collaborative Authority: Nineteenth-Century Foundations of Petroleum GeologyPart 2. Contested Knowledge3. Shared Authority: Practical Oil Men and Professional Geologists4. Institutional Authority: Field Work, Universities, and SurveysPart 3. Appropriated Knowledge5. Geology Organized: Henry L. Doherty's Technological SystemConclusionNotesBibliographyIndex