Dr. Kubassek János szerk.: A Kárpát-medence természeti értékei (Érd, 2004)
Dr. Péter Rózsa: Robert Townson (1762-1827): a pioneer scientific explorer of the Carpathian Basin
ing of our globe, that is of its rocks and strata and their relative situations. This is not merely a matter of curious speculation, but, as different minerals are peculiar to certain strata, of real utility, conveying important knowledge in the statistics of a country. The post-roads I have taken from another map on a smaller scale; 44 / could therefore, often, only draw a straight road from one principal town to another, without being able to ascertain whether the different smaller towns or villages through ivhich I have conducted the roads, are really thus situated upon them. As public roads are indicative of the state of improvement of a country, they ought not to be omitted in maps of this nature. "^ 5 Townson's choice was extremely good: it seems that Korabinszky's map must have been the first, all over the world, that shows detailed natural and economic resources of any country (PLIIIÁL K., 1999). At the same time, however, Townson's "pétrographie" amplification can be also regarded as a milestone: it is the first coloured geological map of any major region in Hungary (FÜLÖP, J., 1969; VALLANCE, T.G. - TORKENS, H.S., 1984). Townson used 13 pétrographie categories, and the granite-gneiss schist-limestone-volcanic tuff succession order clearly follows the system made by Abraham Gottlob Werner (1750-1817), the famous professor of Mining Academy in Freiberg (KÁZMÉR M, 1999). Townson's "pétrographie" map is remarkable not only for its priority. Comparing his map with the present-day geological maps, it reflects the actual extent of rocks with surprising fidelity, and he used correct pétrographie nomenclature. obert Townson's Travels in Hungary, which is an enjoyable reading and a CS V remarkable scientific work, emerges from travel books on Hungary in the 17 th century. This fact was immediately recognised by his contemporaries, although it has been translated neither to German nor to Hungarian. One of the earliest record on his book is a letter dated in 4 1 ' 1 February, 1798, that was written by Count Domokos Teleki (1773-1798) to the secretary of the Mineralogical Society of Jena. 46 It says: "In the journal Jenaer Litt. Z. Intelligenz Blatt there is a very honourable report on an English work with the following title: EPILOGUE
