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66-420: Dougal Dixon (born 1 March 1947) is a Scottish geologist , palaeontologist , educator and author. Dixon has written well over a hundred books on geology and palaeontology, many of them for children, which have been credited with attracting many to the study of the prehistoric animals. Because of his work as a prolific science writer, he has also served as a consultant on dinosaur programmes. Dixon graduated from

132-643: A castle on the banks of the River Frome, at a site acquired from the Abbot of Shaftesbury and now known as Castle Close, which became the focus of much fighting between the forces of Stephen and Matilda during the period of civil war in the mid 12th century. The keep was destroyed at an unknown date in the 12th or 13th century, possibly under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford , and no visible trace remains. Up until this time Wareham had been an important port; however

198-504: A market town , and still holds a market on Thursdays and Saturdays. In 2005 Wareham was named as a Fairtrade Town . Events held in the town include the annual carnival which takes place in July with a parade, fireworks and music by the Quay. A new event is the music festival held in summer, with bands playing on the Quay, at Wareham Town Hall and in the town's pubs. The Wareham Court Leet, one of

264-409: A "populariser", who presents the scientific information in new and unusual forms. The inspiration for Dixon's interest in speculative biology was according to himself "a mixture of a fascination for science and an appreciation of fantasy and imagination". In particular, he also credits H. G. Wells ' The Time Machine as inspiring him as a child to invent future animals descended from modern ones. In

330-659: A civilian instructor for the Air Training Corps , a British volunteer-military youth organisation . He has also worked as a practical geologist. In 1995, he partook in an Open University/ Earthwatch expedition to Askja Caldera , Iceland, and in 1987, Dixon was one of the excavators at a Jurassic -aged dinosaur-rich fossil site in Durlston , Dorset. Dixon was also involved in excavations of stegosaurian fossils in Montana from 2004 to 2008. Dixon has also participated in excavations in

396-408: A consultant and creature designer for the miniseries The Future is Wild (2002) and also co-authored its companion book with the series producer Joanna Adams. Dixon also contributed to the 2020 Netflix series Alien Worlds . Dixon uses his speculative evolution books to explain various natural processes through fictitious examples: After Man explores evolution and natural selection through

462-529: A fictional future ecosystem, The New Dinosaurs explores zoogeography through a fictional alternate world where the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event never happened, Man After Man explores climate change through the eyes of future human descendants engineered to adapt to it, and Greenworld explores the relationship between humans and the natural environment through a fictional extraterrestrial biosphere. Dixon has consequently described himself as

528-553: A large conifer plantation, Wareham Forest stretches several miles to the A35 road and the southern foothills of the Dorset Downs . To the south east is Corfe Castle and the heathland that borders Poole Harbour, including Wytch Farm oil field and Studland & Godlingstone Heath Nature Reserve . About four miles (7 km) to the south is a chalk ridge, the Purbeck Hills which faces

594-408: A local movie theatre. Dixon is most famous for his 1980/90s trilogy of speculative evolution books: After Man (1981), The New Dinosaurs (1988) and Man After Man (1990). These books use imagined future and alternate animals to explain various natural processes, including evolution , natural selection , zoogeography and climate change . Through these books, Dixon is often recognised as

660-510: A motorbike accident. Wareham Town Museum , in East Street, has an interesting section on Lawrence and in 2006 produced an hour-long DVD entitled T. E. Lawrence — His Final Years in Dorset , including a reconstruction of the fatal accident. The museum also contains many artefacts on all aspects of the history of the town. The Royal Air Force Air Cadets has an Air Training Corps squadron based in

726-407: A palaeontology book written and illustrated by the same person. Dixon himself considers his palaeontology and geology books, due to inspiring others to take an active interest in these fields, to be his greatest contribution to science. He has also noted that the speed in which new palaeontology discoveries are made today often render portions of his books outdated before they are even published. As

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792-561: A result of his books, Dixon is recognised as an authority on dinosaurs and has worked as a consultant and animator on dinosaur programmes. He has also hosted a Japanese programme on evolution, during which he travelled across the world, visiting, among other locations, the Galápagos Islands and the Serengeti . One of Dixon's more novel dinosaur books which has garnered him some attention is Time Exposure (1984), in which he collaborated with

858-428: A specialized area within their geological discipline and are employed by universities. In Canada, National Instrument 43-101 requires reports containing estimates of mineral resources and reserves to be prepared by, or under the supervision of, a Qualified Person (QP) who has at least five years of experience with the reported minerals and is a member of a professional association. The QP accepts personal liability for

924-525: A station on the South West Main Line railway, and was formerly the junction station for services along the branch line to Swanage, now preserved as the Swanage Railway . The steam railway has ambitions to extend its service, currently from Swanage to Norden, near Corfe Castle back to Worgret Junction (where the mainline and branch divided) and into Wareham again. To the north west of the town

990-468: A two-volume version of his ideas in 1795 ( Vol. 1 , Vol. 2 ). Followers of Hutton were known as Plutonists because they believed that some rocks were formed by vulcanism , which is the deposition of lava from volcanoes, as opposed to the Neptunists , led by Abraham Werner , who believed that all rocks had settled out of a large ocean whose level gradually dropped over time. The first geological map of

1056-472: Is also the director, operations manager and chief projectionist of the local movie theatre, the Rex Cinema , and he has created claymation stop-motion advertisements for local businesses, as well as animated short films, that screen before the feature films. Dixon's hobbies also include painting and sculpting. Dixon is a science fiction enthusiast and has attended several conventions, often speaking about

1122-410: Is common in the fields of geography , engineering , chemistry , urban planning , environmental studies , among others. Geologists, can be generally identified as a specialist in one or more of the various geoscience disciplines, such as a geophysicist or geochemist. Geologists may concentrate their studies or research in one or more of the following disciplines: Professional geologists may work in

1188-546: Is divided into four quarters by the two main roads, which cross at right-angles. The medieval almshouses escaped the fire, and some of the Georgian façades are in fact disguising earlier buildings which also survived. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Wareham became a garrison town with up to 7,000 soldiers living and training locally. The camp was re-located to nearby Bovington in 1922. The town survived

1254-401: Is the town's local weekly newspaper. Thomas Hardy in his novels based the town of "Anglebury" on Wareham. Dinah Craik used the town as one of the settings in her novel Agatha's Husband (as "Kingcombe"). Anglebury House - a tea house/restaurant still operating on the high street - was frequented by T E Lawrence . The seat where Lawrence regularly sat is marked by a plaque. Wareham is

1320-587: The After trilogy. In 1996, he served as the designer for the creatures of the Japanese IMAX film Krakken: Adventure of Future Ocean , which imagined future ocean creatures. In 1998, Dixon was one of the scientists featured on the programme Natural History of an Alien , where several hypothesised alien ecosystems were explored. Dixon's imagined world, "Greenworld", was later utilised in his fourth personal speculative evolution book, Greenworld (2010). Dixon served as

1386-631: The Bronze Age . The first house discovered dates to the mid 15th century BCE. Archaeological evidence exists of a small Roman settlement, though the current town was founded by the Saxons . The Roman name is unknown, but the town is referred to as Werham in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry of 784, from Old English wer (meaning 'fish trap, a weir') and hām ('homestead') or hamm ('enclosure hemmed in by water'). The town's oldest features are

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1452-650: The English county of Dorset . The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles (13 km) southwest of Poole . The town is built on a strategic dry point between the River Frome and the River Piddle at the head of the Wareham Channel of Poole Harbour . The Frome Valley runs through an area of unresistant sand, clay and gravel rocks, and much of its valley has wide flood plains and marsh land. At its estuary

1518-824: The House of Commons . Until 31 January 2020, they were also within the South West England constituency of the European Parliament . Prior to 2019, Wareham was also part of the Purbeck District of Dorset, before it was merged with other districts to the Dorset Unitary Authority. Wareham is twinned with Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy , France and with Hemsbach in Germany . Since the 16th century Wareham has been

1584-676: The Isle of Wight to the east, and eight miles (12 km) to the south is the English Channel . The town's strategic setting has made it an important settlement throughout its long history. Excavations at the nearby Bestwall site have produced evidence of transient early Mesolithic activity dating to around 9000 BCE . At the same site four large Neolithic pits containing worked flint and pottery fragments dating to 3700 BCE were found. Three green stone axeheads discovered also probably date to this period. Flint working and potting continued throughout

1650-547: The Second World War largely intact, although five houses were destroyed when a bomb dropped by a German aeroplane fell near St Martin's Church in 1942. Because of the constraints of the rivers and marshland Wareham grew little during the 20th century, while nearby towns, such as Poole , grew rapidly. Wareham contains several places of worship with the oldest being the Saxon churches of Lady St. Mary (substantially modified but

1716-479: The Second World War . The civil parish of Wareham Town encompasses the walled town of Wareham, situated on the land between the rivers Frome and Piddle, together with the area of Northport to the north of the River Piddle, and a relatively small amount of the surrounding rural area. The parish has an area of 6.52 square kilometres (2.52 square miles). The sister civil parish of Wareham St. Martin covers much of

1782-523: The University of St Andrews with a Bachelor of Science and in 1972, he graduated with a Master of Science , having studied geology and palaeontology . Dixon's research thesis focused on palaeogeography , tracing the different landscapes of the British Isles throughout their geological history. Dixon's first experiences with publishing came when he worked as the in-house geological consultant for

1848-498: The University of St. Andrews with a Master of Science in 1970 and has since then worked in a variety of occupations, including as a geological consultant, tutor and teacher, a practical geologist on geological expeditions and as a civilian instructor for the Air Training Corps , a British volunteer-military youth organisation . At present, he lives in Wareham, Dorset , where he works as a full-time author and book editor and also manages

1914-482: The 1960s and 1970s, conservationist movements caused the idea to periodically resurface, eventually culminating in the publication of After Man in 1981. The success of After Man then inspired his further works in the genre. Dixon married his wife Jean Mary Young on 3 April 1971. They live together in Wareham and have two children: Gavin (born 1975) and Lindsay (born 1980), as well as three grandchildren. In Wareham, Dixon

1980-582: The Geology of the United States explanatory of a Geological Map , and published in the Society's Transactions , together with the nation's first geological map. This antedates William Smith 's geological map of England by six years, although it was constructed using a different classification of rocks. Sir Charles Lyell first published his famous book, Principles of Geology , in 1830. This book, which influenced

2046-732: The Martyr Roman Catholic church on Shatters Hill, Wareham Methodist Church in North St. and the Evangelical Church in Ropers Lane. Sections of the churchyard of Lady St. Mary are managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission , containing as it does a number of graves of servicemen who died in a nearby military hospital during the First World War and others, including those of German and Polish servicemen, from

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2112-457: The United Kingdom and Ireland. Dixon today works as a full-time author and book editor and has written well over a hundred books. The majority of Dixon's books are encyclopaedias or children's books concerning palaeontology or geology. Through writing books on the subject on several different levels and adapting the material accordingly, reviewers have credited Dixon with attracting many to

2178-606: The United States was produced in 1809 by William Maclure . In 1807, Maclure commenced the self-imposed task of making a geological survey of the United States. Almost every state in the Union was traversed and mapped by him; the Allegheny Mountains being crossed and recrossed some 50 times. The results of his unaided labors were submitted to the American Philosophical Society in a memoir entitled Observations on

2244-470: The United States. Through the After trilogy, Dixon is generally considered to be the founder of the modern speculative evolution movement, an artistic and scientific movement focused on speculative paths in the evolution of life. His ideas have been repurposed or used as inspirations for numerous similar projects, both in print and on the internet, and have in some cases spawned adaptations and exhibitions. Dixon has also been involved in further projects since

2310-496: The age of six. Dixon spent most of his younger years in the Scottish borderlands . He credits the beginning of his writing career as being spawned from his love of creating stories, usually in the form of comic strips, as a child. His comic strips were typically science fiction-themed or otherwise futuristic, and frequently incorporated strange creatures. Dixon has had a special interest in evolution and fossils since his youth. Dixon

2376-646: The country. This 'wellbeing' is often in the form of greater tax revenues from new or extended mining projects or through better infrastructure and/or natural disaster planning. An engineering geologist is employed to investigate geologic hazards and geologic constraints for the planning, design and construction of public and private engineering projects, forensic and post-mortem studies, and environmental impact analysis . Exploration geologists use all aspects of geology and geophysics to locate and study natural resources. In many countries or U.S. states without specialized environmental remediation licensure programs,

2442-471: The end of the Saxon period, Wareham had become one of the most important towns in the county, to the extent that it housed two mints for the issue of Royal money. The Burghal Hidage lists the town as 1,600 hides , the third largest in the realm. During the Norman conquest of England , in late 1067, William I harried the town as his army passed into the west to lay siege to Exeter . The Normans later built

2508-528: The environmental remediation field is often dominated by professional geologists, particularly hydrogeologists, with professional concentrations in this aspect of the field. Petroleum and mining companies use mudloggers , and large-scale land developers use the skills of geologists and engineering geologists to help them locate oil and minerals, adapt to local features such as karst topography or earthquake risk, and comply with environmental regulations. Geologists in academia usually hold an advanced degree in

2574-608: The few remaining Court Leets in Britain, meets nightly during the last week in November. In the church of St Martin-on-the-Walls, there is a recumbent effigy of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in Arab clothing, sculpted by Eric Kennington . Lawrence is buried at Moreton Churchyard where every year a quantity (decreases by one each year) of red roses are left. Near the town is Clouds Hill and Bovington army camp where Lawrence died after

2640-512: The first modern geologist. In 1785 he presented a paper entitled Theory of the Earth to the Royal Society of Edinburgh . In his paper, he explained his theory that the Earth must be much older than had previously been supposed to allow enough time for mountains to be eroded and for sediments to form new rocks at the bottom of the sea, which in turn were raised up to become dry land. Hutton published

2706-585: The founder of the modern speculative evolution movement, an artistic and scientific movement focused on speculative paths in the evolution of life. Dixon has contributed to the movement following the publication of his trilogy, for instance publishing the book Greenworld in 2010 and serving as a consultant and contributor to the 2002 miniseries The Future is Wild . Dixon was born in Dumfries on 1 March 1947 to parents Thomas Bell Dixon and Margaret Ann Hurst. He had an older brother, John Edward, who died in 1942 at

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2772-573: The growth of Poole and the gradual silting of the river caused a decline in trade and by the end of the 13th century most of the foreign trade had transferred to Poole. Local trade continued to be handled at the Quay until the construction of the railway in the 19th century. During the English Civil War , Wareham changed hands several times between the Royalists and Parliamentarians and in August 1644

2838-458: The idea was not widely accepted at the time. For an aspiring geologist, training typically includes significant coursework in physics , mathematics , and chemistry , in addition to classes offered through the geology department; historical and physical geology, igneous and metamorphic petrology and petrography, hydrogeology , sedimentology , stratigraphy , mineralogy , palaeontology , physical geography and structural geology are among

2904-487: The many required areas of study. Most geologists also need skills in GIS and other mapping techniques. Geology students often spend portions of the year, especially the summer though sometimes during a January term, living and working under field conditions with faculty members (often referred to as "field camp"). Many non-geologists often take geology courses or have expertise in geology that they find valuable to their fields; this

2970-595: The mining industry or in the associated area of mineral exploration . They may also work in oil and gas industry. Some geologists also work for a wide range of government agencies, private firms, and non-profit and academic institutions. They are usually hired on a contract basis or hold permanent positions within private firms or official agencies (such as the Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration of Iran ). Local, state, and national governments hire geologists to work on geological projects that are of interest to

3036-527: The next Ascension Day King John 's rule would be over. The prophecy turned out to be incorrect, and the King decreed that Peter should be dragged through the streets of the town tied to a horse's tail and hanged together with his son. In 1762, a fire destroyed two thirds of the town, which has been rebuilt in Georgian architecture with red brick and Purbeck limestone , following the earlier street pattern. The town

3102-537: The origins are pre-conquest . The Saxon nave was demolished in 1841–2) and St. Martins-on-the-Walls (built c.1030, dedicated to Martin of Tours ). Both are Anglican . The 14th-century building of Holy Trinity Church stands on the site of the Saxon chapel St Andrew's and was until 2012 a tourist information centre. Other churches are the Wareham United Reformed Church in Church Street, St. Edward

3168-558: The professional quality of the report and underlying work. The rules and guidelines codified in National Instrument 43-101 were introduced after a scandal in 1997 where Bre-X geologists salted drill core samples at a gold exploration property in Busang, Indonesia. The falsified drilling results misled Bre-X investors and upon discovery of the fraud, the company collapsed in the largest gold mining scam in history. In Europe exists

3234-477: The professional title of EurGeol (European Geologist ) awarded by the European Federation of Geologists . Geologists may belong to a number of professional societies promoting research, networking, and professional development within the field. Wareham, Dorset Wareham ( / ˈ w ɛər əm / WAIR -əm ) is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town , a civil parish , in

3300-427: The public community. The investigation of a country's natural resources is often a key role when working for government institutions; the work of the geologist in this field can be made publicly available to help the community make more informed decisions related to the exploitation of resources, management of the environment and the safety of critical infrastructure - all of which is expected to bring greater wellbeing to

3366-677: The publishing company Boyds Mills Press as a visiting lecturer at elementary schools in the United States, giving presentations about dinosaurs. Dixon was a member of the board of governors of the Sandford First School in Wareham, Dorset from 1985 to 1987, and also a chairman of the Parent-Teachers Association at the Sandford Middle School , also located in Wareham, from 1985 to 1989. Dixon has also done various other types of work. From 1981 to 1990, he worked as

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3432-565: The publishing company Mitchell/Beazley Ltd. in London from 1973 to 1978. From 1978 to 1980 he worked as a book editor for Blandford Press in Dorset , England and from 1980 onwards he has worked as a freelance editor and writer. From 1976 to 1978 Dixon also worked as a part-time tutor, teaching geology and palaeontology, at the Open University . He also did teaching work from 1993 to 2005, sponsored by

3498-574: The river has formed the wide shallow ria of Poole Harbour. Wareham is built on a low dry island between the marshy river plains. The town is situated on the A351 Lytchett Minster - Swanage road, linking Wareham with the A35 and A31 roads and the M27 motorway . Wareham is also the eastern terminus of the A352 road to Dorchester and Sherborne , both roads now bypassing the town centre. The town has

3564-490: The rural area to the north of Wareham, including the village of Sandford . Taken together the two Wareham parishes have an area of 36.18 square kilometres (13.97 square miles), with a 2011 population of 8,270 in 3,788 dwellings. Both parishes form part of the Dorset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Dorset of which it forms the Wareham ward . They are within the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency of

3630-559: The setting for one of the "Amazing Adventures of Scary Bones the Skeleton" series of books for children by Ron Dawson , Scary Bones meets the Wacky Witches of Wareham . The book also includes a photograph of the town bridge and nearby Corfe Castle which also features in the story. Some scenes from the 2002 German ZDF TV production Morgen Träumen Wir Gemeinsam ("Tomorrow We Dream Together") were filmed in Wareham. The hymn tune "Wareham"

3696-453: The study of dinosaurs and many of his books have been praised by critics. Some of his books, such as Hunting the Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals (1987), Be a Dinosaur Detective (1988), and Dougal Dixon's Dinosaurs (1993), have long been recommended inclusions in school libraries and children's curricula . Dougal Dixon's Dinosaurs features Dixon's own artwork, an early example of

3762-449: The thought of Charles Darwin , successfully promoted the doctrine of uniformitarianism . This theory states that slow geological processes have occurred throughout the Earth's history and are still occurring today. In contrast, catastrophism is the theory that Earth's features formed in single, catastrophic events and remained unchanged thereafter. Though Hutton believed in uniformitarianism,

3828-420: The town centre. Wareham is twinned with: The population of Wareham according to the 2001 UK Census was 5,665 living in 2,545 dwellings. 99% of Wareham's population are of White ethnicity. 80.33% of the population state their religion as Christian , 12.24% as "No religion" with 6.59% not stated. There is a high proportion of older people in the town: 29.4% of the population are over 60 years old, against

3894-524: The town in ruins. The town was a Saxon royal burial place, notably that of King Beorhtric (d. 802). Also in the town at the ancient minster church of Lady St. Mary is the coffin said to be that of Edward the Martyr , dating from 978. His remains had been hastily buried there and were later taken from Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey in north Dorset (and now lie in Brookwood Cemetery , Surrey ). By

3960-497: The town walls, ancient earth ramparts surrounding the town, likely built by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to defend the town from the Danes as part of his system of burh towns. The Danes invaded and occupied Wareham in 876, and only left after Alfred returned with an army and made a payment of Danegeld . In 998 they attacked again, and in 1015 an invasion led by King Canute left

4026-654: The town, namely 2185 (Wareham) Squadron ATC . The squadron's cadets regularly partake in activities around the town for charitable purposes such as supporting the carnival, training exercises and parades. The squadron has a Detached Flight based at Swanage . Local news and television programmes is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter. The local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent , Heart South , Greatest Hits Radio South , Nation Radio South Coast and Greatest Hits Radio South . The Wareham Advertiser

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4092-417: The veracity, in terms of evolution and ecology, of alien creatures in science fiction. Dixon has stated that he mostly reads science fiction stories from the "golden age", by writers such as Brian Aldiss , Arthur C. Clarke , Robert Silverberg and Clifford D. Simak . Dixon has stated that he does not believe in a god "as far as evolution is concerned". Geologist James Hutton is often viewed as

4158-631: The wildlife photographer Jane Burton to portray extinct animals in life-like photographs. In addition to writing his own books, Dixon has also contributed to several collaborative encyclopaedias and dictionaries. Dixon is most well-known for his illustrated books within the field of speculative evolution , particularly his three books sometimes dubbed the ' After trilogy': After Man (1981), The New Dinosaurs (1988) and Man After Man (1990). These books contain elaborate visions of plausible future and alternate ecosystems. Reviews were highly positive, and Dixon went on publicity tours in both Britain and

4224-527: Was composed by William Knapp (born at Wareham, 1698–9); Knapp composed several other hymn tunes and was parish clerk of Poole. Wareham appears in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla , under the name of Werham. Wareham is the home of Wareham Rangers Football Club who currently play in the Dorset Premier League . It is also the home of Swanage and Wareham RFU. There is a multi activity sports centre and swimming pool situated 500 metres west of

4290-404: Was first introduced to dinosaurs at the age of five, when he saw one in a comic book . Having never seen dinosaurs before, he took showed the image to his father, who in turn showed Dixon an old natural history book with pictures of ancient animals and fossils. Dixon has since credited this moment as igniting his interest for prehistoric creatures and natural history. In 1970, Dixon graduated from

4356-627: Was the site of a fierce battle with 2,000 Cromwellian soldiers besieging the town. After the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Wareham was one of a number of towns in Dorset where Judge Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes , with five rebels being hanged, drawn and quartered on the West Walls, an area known as 'Bloody Bank'. This may also have been the site of the execution of a hermit known as Peter de Pomfret who in 1213 had prophesied that before

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