Charles Lapworth

Who was Charles Lapworth?

Charles Lapworth was a teacher and a scientist who studied rocks and old fossils. He was born on 20 September 1842 in Faringdon, a village that is now part of Oxfordshire. He trained to be a teacher and later became the head of a school in Galashiels.

What did Charles Lapworth do?

Lapworth loved learning about Earth’s history. He used special fossils, called index fossils, to understand old rock layers. He discovered that some rocks thought to be from one time were actually from a different time. He introduced a new time in Earth’s history called the Ordovician period. This helped scientists learn more about how Earth changed over millions of years.

Why do we remember him?

Because of his important work, Lapworth was honored by many science groups. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society, shown by the letters FRS, and a Fellow of the Geological Society, shown by the letters FGS. Scientists named a fossil and a lake after him. You can learn more about his work at the Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham.