Finding Oil: The Nature of Petroleum Geology, 1859-1920

by Brian Frehner

Overview

Because oil has made fortunes, caused wars, and shaped nations, no one questions the assertion that the quest for oil is a quest for power. The question we should ask, Finding Oil suggests, is rather 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. Charting the intersection between human and natural history, their stories trace the ever-evolving relationship between science and industry and reveal the unexpected role geology played in shaping our understanding of the history of oil.

Brian Frehner is an associate professor of history at Oklahoma State University. He is the coeditor of Indians and Energy: Exploitation and Opportunity in the American Southwest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780803238374
Publisher:	University of Nebraska Press
Publication date:	10/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Brian Frehner is an associate professor of history at Oklahoma State University. He is the coeditor of Indians and Energy: Exploitation and Opportunity in the American Southwest.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations viii

Acknowledgments xi

Introduction 1

Part 1 Local Knowledge

1 Vernacular Authority in the Oil Field 21

2 Nineteenth-Century Foundations of Petroleum Geology 45

Part 2 Contested Knowledge

3 Shared Authority: Practical Oil Men and Professional Geologists 81

4 Institutional Authority: Field Work, Universities, and Surveys 103

Part 3 Appropriated Knowledge

5 Geology Organized: Henry L. Doherty's Technological System 143

Conclusion 173

Notes 179

Bibliography 207

Index 225

Editorial Reviews

"[Finding Oil] expands considerably our understanding of oil development in the southern plains."—Brian C. Black, Journal of Southern History

Journal of Southern History - Brian C. Black

"Approachable and well-written."—Jordan P. Howell, Journal of Historical Geography

Journal of Historical Geography - Jordan P. Howell

"As oil became more difficult, more expensive, and riskier to find, investments in the training and employment of professional geologists made economic sense to practical oil men bent on creating global scientific knowledge of the best places to explore. Finding Oil is an excellent introduction to this fascinating history."—Joseph A. Pratt, Journal of American History

Journal of American History - Joseph A. Pratt

“Elegant, thoughtful. . . . Intelligent, well-written. . . . [Frehner] provides a detailed case study of the transition from local, contingent, traditional ways of knowing nature to universal scientific and managerial knowledge in the early twentieth century.”—Kathryn Morse, Pacific Historical Review
 

Pacific Historical Review - Kathryn Morse

"Effectively illustrated and thoroughly footnoted, with an extensive bibliography and a complete index, the book provides an intelligent readership with an appreciation for the temporal and technical aspects of early petroleum geology."—W. C. Peters, CHOICE

CHOICE - W. C. Peters

"Frehner has found a story worth telling and has told it well."—John W. Stockwell Jr., Leading Edge

Leading Edge - John W. Stockwell Jr.

"Finding Oil deserves a secure place on the bookshelves of oil history scholars and buffs. But it should also appeal to anyone interested in the history of the natural sciences, the relationship between nature and culture, and the intersections between business, technology, and the environment."—Tyler Priest, Annals of Wyoming

Annals of Wyoming - Tyler Priest

"Finding Oil deserves a secure place on the bookshelves of oil history scholars and buffs. But it should also appeal to anyone interested in the history of the natural sciences, the relationship between nature and culture, and the intersections between business, technology, and the environment."—Tyler Priest, Annals of Wyoming

— Tyler Priest

Annals of Wyoming

"As oil became more difficult, more expensive, and riskier to find, investments in the training and employment of professional geologists made economic sense to practical oil men bent on creating global scientific knowledge of the best places to explore. Finding Oil is an excellent introduction to this fascinating history."—Joseph A. Pratt, Journal of American History

— Joseph A. Pratt

Journal of American History

"Effectively illustrated and thoroughly footnoted, with an extensive bibliography and a complete index, the book provides an intelligent readership with an appreciation for the temporal and technical aspects of early petroleum geology."—W. C. Peters, CHOICE

— W. C. Peters

CHOICE