Geology came into being in the nineteenth century. The word geology itself became established; we could very well have had geognostasy.  Geology was the exciting new science of the nineteenth century, much like space exploration or biotechnology in the twentieth. New concepts appeared of unimaginably vast spans of time, of strange extinct creatures, of systematic ways of exploring for economic minerals. The key to defining these concepts and comprehending the formation and structure of the landscapes around us was mapping. Early geologists observed rock exposures in the landscape, quarries and mines, collecting and comparing samples and fossils. Initially, they sketched their observations and interpretations in diagrammatic sections, panoramic views and on the maps of the day. In the nineteenth century, the great national topographic surveys commenced in Europe and its empires and in America to provide a more rigorous base for plotting observations and finds to create more accurate geological maps and sections.