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William Dixon West CIE, ScD, OBE, ETC. ETC.
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All evidence speaks he could. What is more this is the first case of plagiarism anywhere in the world in the history of geological research.
Was West guilty of
plagiarism ?
Of course, he was. He published a note in Current Science (1962) “The line of the Narmada and Son Valleys" (fig 3). West published this note without acknowledging the monumental work by Joseph G Medlicott Mem. Geol. Surv. of India 1860 (“On the geological structure of the Central portion of the Nerbudda district”). It was Medlicott who was one of the first of the founding team of G.S.I, second oldest Geological Survey in the world (1851). He was the first to point out that Narmada and Sone formed a line of disturbance and on one side of it Vindhyans occurred, and on the other coal bearing rocks (the term Gondwana for these rocks was coined later).
It was a classical and quite a remarkable discovery at that particular moment of time in the history, since industrial revolution had set in at an active pace and the principal aim of the Geological Survey of India was to find the rocks that contained coal. During this study, Medlicott was to separate the coal beaing rocks fom those that were devoid of coal by intensive mapping and found that the boundary between the two was a sharp one and along a line that extended across India's EW limits. This was indeed pioneering and it was unfortunate that subsequent workers like P N Bose and others that followed him did not cite this work nor did they allude to this great feature of tectonic interest.
By not citing this work which was in West’s possession, having given to him by Sir Lewis L Fermor (all of West's collection of books and journals -excepting those that he had donated to other organizations- were donated to the University after his demise in 1994), West violated or threw to wind all ethical norms of scientific research. After all, J G Medlicott (not to be confused with the more popular H B Medlicott, no relation to him but five years JGM’s junior) was the first in line and should have received the credit due to him, just as all structural geologists, while quoting strain-slip cleavage give credit of this term to T G Bonney who suggested it in 1887 or to Willis 1880 for first experiments on folding. Putting in plain words, West did not even care to see that J G Medlicott was much senior to him, and had probably died even before he himself was born (actually in 1866. He was struck with paralysis in 1863 and had returned to Dublin-he was an Irishman-but could not stand the place that had become alien to him. He returned to India, where after a short resumption of his duties his health entirely gave way and he finally sank. He died on 10th May 1866**). He also forgot that J G Medlicott was his own countryman. Six seasons of geological mapping from 1852 to 1857 had taken JGM to arrive at this conclusion-what West did by practically sitting in an armchair and having only visited Katangi, barely 130 km away from Sagar. In other words, he betrayed a dead man’s soul. By this short note West rose to great glory in academic circles of India since there are only 2 copies of this 1860 memoir and the same is also out of print and all thought that this was West’s original idea and none could verify if the idea was West’s or someone else’s. In brief, West erected his own house on the money stolen from a dead man’s wallet. Had he been in England and had done this, he would have been packed off to Australia* and all would simply have sent him off to Coventry. See all supporting documents below. The one at the last is the note by West in Curr. Sci. The one below is copy of page 146 of JGM's memoir. The second is page 228 of memoir by JGM. Just compare and you will know that I am absolutely right. The entire idea is Medlicott's but has been presented in a different way by comparing trap levels, the volcanics in which West got interested when he was not fit for more painstaking field work. In 1962, geological research was nascent in India and a mere point in this direction was considered a great discovery.
The plates referred to in the text have been removed or stolen.
Fig. 1 Page 146 of the 300 p memoir by J G Medlicott
Fig. 2 : page 228 of the memoir by J G Medlicott
The plates referred to in the text have been removed or stolen. Where the page (fig 2) is wrinkled the text is: "Beyond the district surveyed, a very similar arrangement is known to form a continuation of the range along the banks of the Sone, the south side of whose valley has been found,"
Fig. 3 Copy of paper West published 100 years later but containing nearly the same thesis or idea
Other: West worked is association with Pilgrim in Simla (Summer capital of the Colonial British) that resulted, all credits to Pilgrim, in an excellent publication. West foolishly tried to apply the same theory in the Sausar rocks of Archaean to early Proterozoic age, of the then Nagpur district and came up with the grandiose idea and "discovery" of the "Deolapar nappe" which just isn't there. On this 10-page paper West was awarded Sc.D. by the University of Cambridge in 1937. Because of West's being "well-connected" won Lewis L Fermor the knighthood. For this simple reason, Fermor gave away his own collection of Memoirs and Records of G.S,I to West. It is from one such 100 year old memoir that West stole the idea and gave it in his own name. Lord Mountbatton arrived in India on 29 October 1945 (for the transfer of power from Great Britain into Indian hands )and he invested in West, on behalf of the King of England the O.B.E. on 29 December 1945, barely two months after. This is just to substantiate that West was "well-connected". Not to speak of the MBE in 1990 by HM Q E II for furtherance of geological education in the third world. It may coincidental that the unification of the Germanys and breakup of USSR had just about begun at this time and the third world ceased to exist. It is claimed that when West was asked to pack his bags and return to England by Govt. of India in 1950, he asked the Govt of India to let him stay for a year more to celebrate the centenary of the GSI in 1951. (People of older generation in GSI, some of them now dead said that West knew that Krishnan was to succeed him and so deliberately selected new recruits to join the GSI from South India and left that letter unsigned before his exit. Consequently Krishnan had to bear the brunt that he had shown nepotism in the appointments). It is alleged that West made the CMPDI Manganese company to onate Rs.6 lakhs to each of the then existing universities in CP and Berar (Nagpur and Sagar). It is alleged that while making this donation through the Indian UGC, CMPDI made a stipulation that at one of the two universities they will have their own man heaing the Dept there. West may have wanted to stay on in India for personal reasons. W D West enjoyed being chairman of the department of applied geology at the university of Sagar. The Indian University Grants commission gave a massive grant and established a research wing of the department. It was housed in a separate building alongside the departmental building in the Applied Geology Precinct. After 10 years of running, West himself, it is alleged, got this Centre of Advanced Study in Geology derecognised and all grants were terminated, simply because he found that the departmental faculty did not want that he should be allowed to continue as the chairman of the department. W D West had a clause for the governance of the centre that one who is the chairman of the dept also becomes the Director of the centre. Thus throwing democratic governence to winds, West ruled like a dictator. Anyway, it it better to have the research wing dissolved and all grant terminated than having a plagiarist like West rule the roost.
Those who read this must do everything possible to see that West, though deceased, must be branded as a scientific imposter since he too had betrayed his own countryman long since dead.
*Britain wanted to maintain a puritan society. This phrase is out of context in present times. The British themselves changed this stance when a lot of gold and a lot of coal was discovered in Australia. In fact Australian geologists are much better than the British at the moment.
**An account of JGM was given in the annual report of the Asiatic Society, 1867: "Mr. J.G. Medlicott was well-known as one of the earliest and most energetic members of the Geological Survey of India. He arrived in India in 1851 already an experienced geologist. In 1861 (presumably after his retirement from GSI)he was specially commissioned by Government to draw up a handbook on the cotton production of Bengal, a work which gained for him a high reputation. In 1862 he joined the Education Department of Bengal. The duties of post he occupied were ably discharged up to the time of his death. By the death of Mr. J.G. Medlicott the Government loses one of its few enthusiastic servants, and India one of its few scientific men". Remark in parenthesiis is mine. (Please type the link for family tree Medlicott http://medlicott.uk.com/fam/6_dunmurry.htm in the address field).
All of West's ideas were proved to be sham and hoax while he was still alive.
His theory of seismic belts with peninsular India being seismically completely stable was rocked by the devastating earthquakes at Koyna(1967), Baroda(1970), Broach(1972), Kurduwadi (1990) and Jabalpur (1998)'
His Deolapar nappe does not exist.
His picrite basalt theory is a sham. Everyone knows that sinking of olivine crystals can never occur to the extent to regenerate picrite basalt.
There is no concrete evidence to say that the drainage in Central India is superimposed.
His idea of Narmada Sone line is a classic case of plagiarism.
His is a classic case of how men with superfluous knowledge can rise up in life if they are well connected. It does not matter what they know but who they know in today's world.
**THIS AUTHOR FEELS THAT MANY OF YOU MAY THINK THAT THE ABOVE ACCOUNT IS VERY OR RATHER STRONGLY WORDED. WELL, IT IS BOUND BE, SINCE WHEN YOU PLACE SOMEONE ON A HIGH PEDESTAL AND SUDDENLY DISCOVER THAT HE IS JUST NOT WORTHY OF BEING THERE. WELL IT IS FOR THE VISITOR TO DECIDE WHETHER SUCH A MAN HAD ANY CHARACTER AT ALL.
