The GSC has a rich and fascinating history dating back to its formation in 1842:

• No stone unturned
  The first 150 years of the Geological Survey of Canada
  • History of GSC Vancouver

• GSC luminaries
  • Sir William Logan
    The GSC's first Director and Canada's greatest scientist

  • Trailblazers
    Significant individuals in the history of the Geological Survey of Canada (and Natural Resources Canada), including:
    • Sir William Edmond Logan
      The driving force behind the GSC for more than a quarter of a century. First Director of the GSC (1842) (GSC 1842-1875)
    • George Mercer Dawson
      GSC Paleontologist and Chief Geologist (1875-1901), GSC Director (1895-1901)
    • Joseph Burr Tyrrell
      GSC geologist, cartographer, mining consultant (GSC 1881-1898)
    • Charles Camsell
      Visionary geologist and mapmaker (GSC 1904-1920)
    • Albert Peter Low
      Geologist, Director of GSC (1906-1907)
    • Alice Evelyn Wilson
      First woman geologist left her mark in stone (GSC 1911-1946)
    • Diamond Jenness
      Ethnologist, anthropologist, Arctic scholar (GSC 1912-1919)
    • Hugh Bostock
      Yukon geologist (GSC 1924-1954)
    • Dr. Catherine Hickson
      GSC volcanologist (GSC 1988-)

  • Life of a rock star
    GSC scientists of the 19th and 20th centuries have a lot in common with modern rock bands. They had the right stuff to get hired (make the band), then went on 'tour' to do their fieldwork, had many scientific 'hits', and became famous along the way. Life on the road for these 'rock' stars is illustrated with excerpts from their journals and field notebooks as well as GSC photos, sketches, and images of specimens and artifacts.

• Paleontology
  • PaleoGallery
    Dinosaur hunters! - the work of paleontologists in Canada

  • Past lives: Chronicles of Canadian paleontology
    Accounts, stories and anecdotes about the people who collected or studied specific Canadian fossils.

• Related history:
  • History of the Logan Club

  • History of the GSC's radioactivity program

  • The Dominion Observatory: 100 Years of Geoscience
    The Dominion Observatory in Ottawa was the leading Canadian organization in Geomagnetism, Seismology, Earthquake Research and Gravimetry for several decades.

  • History of the National Geochemical Reconnaissance program

  • History of the Yellowknife seismological array

  • History of the Earth Sciences Information Centre
    Canada's oldest scientific library (since 1854), it is formerly known as the GSC Library.

  • Firsts and fascinating facts from its illustrious past (more GSC history from an NRCan point of view)

• Written in Stone: William E. Logan and the Geological Survey of Canada
  The GSC in the 19th Century - this site gathers in one virtual space digital versions of many of Sir William Logan's journals, field notebooks, GSC Reports of Progress, maps and other pertinent resources.
  • The GSC Report of Progress for 1863 was named by the Literary Review of Canada as one of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written.

• MIRAGE
  GSC maps in digital form (includes historical maps as far back as 1856)

• Sir William Logan Collection
  Logan's personal library collection which includes items dating back to the 17th century.

• Encounters, Early Images of Canada's Aboriginal People
  Since its inception in 1842, the Geological Survey has accumulated a rich record of Canada's Aboriginal peoples in black and white photographs, written documents and maps. The collections will be of inestimable value as resources for research and education and as sources of images for artistic and commercial use. This book is an invitation to explorers of all nations to discover the collections and uncover the wealth of their common past. (from the Library Collections of the Geological Survey of Canada)

• GEOSCAN
  A database describing all the GSC publications (including historical reports, maps, etc.)

• Earth Sciences Sector (ESS) Photo Database
  Digital versions of GSC photographs (including historical photos as far back as 1860)

• ESIC library catalogue
  Search ESIC's library collection on subjects such as the history of the GSC and its scientists, history of science and geology, early explorations of Canada and the Americas, GSC publications, and scientific journals of the 19th century.

• Collections
  The GSC also maintains national collections of minerals, rocks and fossils collected by GSC scientists from Sir William Logan to today, as well as GSC scientific artifacts. A large selection of these can be found in the GSC museum, Logan Hall. For more information on these collections, follow these links:
  • Invertebrate and plant fossils
  • Meteorites
  • Rocks, minerals and ores
  • GSC artifacts