Dr. Scott is the Emeritus Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth Science at Royal Holloway University in London. He has been a professor at Yale, a Fellow at Berkeley. He holds numerous degrees from the University of London.

He is the author or editor of 10 academic books.

His research on coal and the geological history of fire has been recognized the word over.


The History Of Fire relies on growing evidence for fire in our past record. We have a history of fire that has been with us over the past 400,000,000 years. Amazingly, this history allows us to extract information about our past climate, environment and vegetation from fossil charcoal.

Dr. Scott tackles, with accessibility to the reader, the impact of wild-fire and its origin and the ways we can tackle it if necessary, because he also posits that wildfires in many cases are actually good for the planet and for us.