In a nutshell
A world figure in his field, Owen Thomas Jones was responsible for mapping the geology of Wales.

Track record
He started his career by studying not geology, but physics at Aberystwyth. Once he'd come across geology, he was hooked for the rest of his life.

In 1903 he joined the British Geological Survey, working near his home in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. In 1910 he was appointed the first professor of geology in Aberystwyth. He was almost manic out on field trips and had a habit of lecturing at seven o'clock in the morning in summer! Owen Thomas Jones became professor of geology in Manchester University, then professor of geology at Cambridge.

The Science
Geology is the study of rocks and rock formations, using a variety of skills linked to physics and chemistry. However, you also need to be able to visualise changes to the landscape that started thousands of years ago.

Wales, with its distinctive mountains and valleys, has rich pickings for geologists. Welsh names, for instance Cambrian, Silurian and Ordorfician, are used to describe some of the world's oldest mountain ranges.