O čtvrtém řádu a o tom, jak se nakonec, neřád, zkomplikoval

The Quaternary period and how it became even more complicated. Part I: On the origin of Quaternary science. By Petr Pokorný.

Starting in 18th century, the article describes the oldest roots of our knowledge of the youngest period of geological time-scale. History of this dynamic branch of science is closely bound to developments in geology, archaeology, biogeography and evolutionary biology. Special emphasis is put on the conceptual influence of Georges Cuvier and Charles Lyell. Breakthrough came with the work of Louis Agassiz who first succeeded with carrying generally the glacial paradigm. Development in the second half of 19th century brought about general acceptance of this concept and finally led to the emergence of quadriglacialism in the work of A. Penck and E. Brückner (1901–1909). Around the time of the World War II, new crevices appeared in Quaternary science. This was largely the work of Czech geologists that contributed to the final erosion of the concept of four glacial stages and pointed towards modern theories of multiple Quaternary climatic cycles – polyglacialism. To be continued.