(1638–86), Danish anatomist and geologist; Danish name Niels Steensen. His ideas on the geological history of the earth are now regarded as fundamental—that fossils are the petrified remains of living organisms, that many rocks arise from consolidation of sediments, and that such rocks occur in layers in the order in which they were laid down.
Definition of Steno, Nicolaus in US English:
Steno, Nicolaus
proper nounˈstānō
(1638–86), Danish anatomist and geologist; Danish name Niels Steensen. His ideas are now regarded as fundamental—that fossils are the petrified remains of living organisms, that many rocks arise from consolidation of sediments and occur in layers in the order in which they were laid down.