Abstract: Smith William(1769—1839), a British land surveyor（British stratigrapher, who laid the earliest foundation of British stratigraphy）, he compiled and published the first geologic map of England and Wales based on the “Principle of fossil correlation” in 1815. In this geologic map, he showed lithostratigraphic units, fossils, and geologic age etc., which established a foundation of modern geologic map. In the past 150 years, this traditional method of geological mapping(named Smith’s method) was used until 1976,when International Stratigraphic Guide was issued by ISSC. The new method, which was developed from the tradition one, consists of the multiple classification of stratigraphic units, ubiquity of diachronism for lithostratigraphic units etc., as well as digital geologic map and digital geological mapping widely being used today. Geologic map has a giant contribution to human social economic construction and culture development.