| Description | Oral history interview: Norman Butcher interviewed by Nic Bilham about his life and geological career, carried out as part of a History of Geology Group (HOGG) project originating around the time of the bicentenary of the Society.
Recording location: The Geological Society, Burlington House
Duration: 01:35:15
Family background, including parents, siblings, WW2, and religion (00:32-07:00); school, including science teaching and theatre/music interests (07:00-13:33); National Service, including artillery training and transfer to the Royal Army Educational Corps (13:33-20:00); undergraduate degree (initially Chemistry, then Geology) at Sheffield, including Geology teaching (Fred Shotton, Peter Colley Sylvester-Bradley, Blundell), mapping field work in Totnes and Scotland, and appendicitis (20:00-39:20); postgraduate studies at Sheffield and Oxford (Hastings Senior Scholarship), including mapping in southwest England and work on Skaergaard with Bill Wager (39:20-48:21); wife's degrees in Geography and Geology at Sheffield, birth of children and their careers (48:21-52:20); employment at Reading (1956-late 1960s), and at the Open University with Ian Gass (late 1960s-?) (52:20-1:02:37); trip to Greenland, 9/11 and the importance of Geology (1:02:38-1:07:07); field work in Torquay and Devon in general (1:07:07-1:16:37); changes in Geology, the foundation of the Palaeontological Association (PalAss), discussion about a professional body many years before the Institution of Geologists (01:16:38-01:22:17); love of teaching and importance of field work (01:22:18-01:27:00); Geology-related disasters (Penmanshiel Tunnel collapse and Aberfan) (01:29:06-01:33:52). |