completed the work in 1846. Afterward, he was almost exclusively concerned with the study of the natural sciences and their popularization.

At the suggestion of the director of the museum, Mariano de la Paz Graells, Vilanova y Piera was given a scholarship by the government to study abroad so that, on his return, he could take over the teaching of geology. In 1849, therefore, he studied geology, paleontology, and zoology in Paris at the Museum of Natural Sciences, School of Mines, Botanical Garden, and Sorbonne with Geoffroy de Saint Hilaire, Dufrenoy, Elie de Beaumont, and Cordier. Beginning in 1850, he traveled through france, belgium, italy, switzerland, austria, and Germany and took part in several scientific projects. He gathered and classified an important geological and paleontological collection for the Museum of Natural Sciences in Madrid as well as for the Comisión del Mapa Geológico (Geological Map Commission) and the Cuerpo de Ingenieros del Ejército (Army Engineers), and he started a campaign of international exchanges.

In 1852, Vilanova y Piera was appointed to the chair of geology and paleontology in the Museum of Natural Sciences, and he took up the post in 1853 on his return from abroad. He started teaching in 1854. After the splitting up of the chair in 1873, he chose to go with the paleontology section. Outside the university he also taught in the Ateneo (Athenaeum) of Madrid and in the Enseñanza de Institutrices. As part of his research, he was member of the council of the Geological Map Commission (1849–1858), head of the Sección Geológica del Este de España (Geology Section of Eastern Spain), and a member of the Brigadas Geológicas (Geological Brigades, 1858–1870).

Vilanova y Piera was a full member of the Academia de Medicina (Academy of Medicine); the Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas, y Naturales (Academy of Exact Sciences, Physics, and Natural Sciences); and of the Real Academia de la Historia (Royal Academy of History) as well as being an honorary member of the Real Academia de Ciencias y Artes de Barcelona (Royal Academy of Sciences and Arts of Barcelona). He was a founding member of the Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (Spanish Society of Natural History), the Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid (Geographic Society of Madrid), the Sociedad Antropológica Española (Spanish Anthropological Society), and the Sociedad Prehistórica Española (Spanish Prehistorical Society). He was also a honorary member of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País de Valencia (Economic Society of Friends of the Country of Valencia).

Vilanova y Piera’s teaching and supervisory activities were very much interrelated, not only in the spheres of geology, paleontology, and prehistory but also in some aspects of medicine and biology, especially after the 1860s. The political situation following the 1868 revolution in Spain favored the vigorous formation of scientific associations and high-class cultural journalism. Vilanova y Piera took part actively in both as the most-qualified spokesman of the “official sciences” because of his conservative political ideas and his adherence to the Catholic cause. His membership in the Spanish academies was of fundamental importance as an indirect means of controlling scientific journalism through the granting of the necessary permits in order for each magazine or journal to achieve state subscription.

Vilanova y Piera’s outside activities had three aspects. He took part in the meetings and congresses of the French Geological Society and of the Helvetic Society of Natural Sciences, of which he was a full member, as well as the French Association for the Progress of Science and the International Geology and Anthropology congresses, among others, throughout Europe and in Algiers. Second, he was a member of the French entomological and zoological societies and of the Antiquarians of Copenhagen. Third, in his scientific trips he covered a great deal of Spain and other European countries.

In recognition of his national and international scientific work, Vilanova y Piera received the award of Comendador de Carlos III, the Italian Order of the Iron Crown, and the Danish Donebrog. He is considered to be one of the most outstanding naturalists in the history of Spanish science. With Ezquerra del Bayo and Casiano del Prado, he was most active in the institutionalization of geology in the first half of