William Buckland, (born March 12, 1784, Axminster, Devonshire, Eng.—died Aug. 15, 1856, London), pioneer geologist and minister, known for his effort to reconcile geological discoveries with the Bible and antievolutionary theories.
He disclaimed the theory of fluvial processes and held the biblical Deluge to be the agent of all erosion and sedimentation upon the Earth. He did much important work on paleontological (fossil) formations and was the first in England to note the evidence of glaciation. In addition, Buckland coined the term coprolite (fossilized animal excrement) in 1835 after a fossil-hunting expedition in which he and English fossil hunter Mary Anning discovered convoluted masses in the rocks they examined. He wrote Reliquiae Diluvianae (1823; “Relics of the Deluge”) and Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (1836), published as one of the Bridgewater Treatises.