Phyllis and Lindsay Bottomer presented “Austen on the Rocks,” which skillfully intertwined the life and works of Jane Austen with significant figures in geology, particularly William Smith, the father of English geology, and Mary Anning, a pioneering fossil collector.
The presentation explored the connections between Austen’s life and the geological discoveries of her time. Phyllis and Lindsay shared anecdotes about Smith’s mapping of England’s strata and Anning’s fossil discoveries along the Jurassic Coast, drawing parallels between Austen’s social observations and the scientific explorations of her contemporaries.