Editing Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (section)

===Geology===
His father's strong interest in natural science and geology instilled the same in Teilhard from an early age, and would continue throughout his lifetime. As a child, Teilhard was intensely interested in the stones and rocks on his family's land and the neighboring regions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Early Years 1881 - 1899 |url=http://tcreek1.jimdofree.com/1-the-early-years/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Teilhard de Chardin |language=en-US}}</ref> His father helped him develop his skills of observation. At the University of Paris, he studied geology, botany and zoology. After the French government banned all religious orders from France and the Jesuits were exiled to the island of Jersey in the UK, Teilhard deepened his geology knowledge by studying the rocks and landscape of the island.

In 1920, he became a lecturer in geology at the Catholic University of Paris, and later a professor. He earned his doctorate in 1922. In 1923 he was hired to do geological research on expeditions in China by the Jesuit scientist and priest [[Émile Licent|Emile Licent]]. In 1914, Licent with the sponsorship of the Jesuits founded one of the first museums in China and the first museum of natural science: the [[Musée Hoangho Paiho]]. In its first eight years, the museum was housed in the [[Chongde Hall]] of the Jesuits. In 1922, with the support of the Catholic Church and the French Concession, Licent built a special building for the museum on the land adjacent to the [[Tsin Ku University]], which was founded by the Jesuits in China. 

With help from Teilhard and others, Licent collected over 200,000 paleontology, animal, plant, ancient human, and rock specimens for the museum, which still make up more than half of its 380,000 specimens. Many of the publications and writings of the museum and its related institute were included in the world's database of [[zoological]], [[botanical]], and palaeontological literature, which is still an important basis for examining the early scientific records of the various disciplines of biology in northern China.

Teilhard and Licent were the first to discover and examine the [[Shuidonggou]] (水洞沟) ([[Ordos Loop|Ordos]] Upland, [[Inner Mongolia]]) archaeological site in northern China. Recent analysis of flaked stone artifacts from the most recent (1980) excavation at this site has identified an assemblage which constitutes the southernmost occurrence of an Initial Upper Paleolithic blade technology proposed to have originated in the Altai region of Southern Siberia. The lowest levels of the site are now dated from 40,000 to 25,000 years ago.

Teilhard spent the periods between 1926-1935 and 1939-1945 studying and researching the geology and palaeontology of the region. Among other accomplishments, he improved understanding of China’s sedimentary deposits and established approximate ages for various layers. He also produced a geological map of China.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Macke |first=Robert |date=2020-01-26 |title=Religious Scientists: Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. (1881-1955); Jesuit paleontologist |url=https://www.vaticanobservatory.org/sacred-space-astronomy/religious-scientists-fr-pierre-teilhard-de-chardin-s-j-1881-1955-jesuit-paleontologist/ |access-date=2023-12-24 |website=Vatican Observatory |language=en-US}}</ref> It was during the period 1926-1935 that he joined the excavation that discovered Peking Man.