Place Object Found: Easthope

Department: Earth Sciences

Henry Clifton Sorby, born in Sheffield in 1826, was one of the last great Victorian amateur scientists. Among his many contributions was the pioneering application of microscopy to the study of rocks, for which he was originally ridiculed. Studying rocks in thin section is now an essential part of geology. The museum’s collection of Sorby’s geological microscope slides, the first of their kind, is therefore historically as well as scientifically invaluable.