Daniel Tilas

Tilas was born in Gammelbo, Västmanland where his father Olof was a wealthy landowner, titled knight in 1719 and his mother Maria was daughter of the scientist Urban Hjärne.

He was educated at home by tutors before going to the University of Uppsala in 1723 where he studied natural sciences and Latin, interacting with Carolus Linnaeus.

[2] He served in the Border Commission and walked the entire stretch between Sweden and Norway from Värmland to Tornio, Lapland.

Hollis Dow Hedberg noted that Tilas had come up with the idea of stratigraphy based on observations in Siljan, where hydrocarbon deposits were thought to have been pushed under the surface by a Devonian meteor impact.

[3] He hypothesized, based on his observations of petrochemical deposits, that they were at the same depth across various places, making the case for mapping as a means for identifying new locations for mining.