Specialization can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialization was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.

No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Neverthelss, the word “amateur” does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialization in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.

A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate, and reflect on, the wider geological picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the widespread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, where the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.

Although the process of professionalisation and specialization was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.

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專業化可被看作針對科學知識不斷膨脹這個問題所做出的反應。通過將學科細分為各個小的單元，個人能夠繼續處理這些信息并將它們作為進一步研究的基礎。但是專業化僅僅是一系列相關科學進步中影響交流過程的的一個。另一現象是科學活動的日益職業化。

在科學領域內，職業人士與業余人士之間沒有明確的區分：任何規律都有其例外。但是“業余”這個詞的確具有一種含義，即相關的那個人沒有完全融入某個科學家群體，尤其是他可能并不完全認同他們的價值觀。19世紀的專業化的發展，導致了對更長更復雜的訓練的要求，意味著業余人員進入科學界會遇到更大的困難。特別是在以數學和實驗室訓練為基礎的科學領域，這種傾向自然尤為明顯，這可以通過英國的地質學發展過程得到證實。

對過去一個半世紀的英國地質出版物所進行的比較表明不但人們對研究首要性的重視程度在不斷增加，而且對什么是可以接受的論文的定義也在不斷變化。因此，在19世紀，局部的地質研究本身就代表了一種有價值的研究；而到了20世紀，如果局部的研究能夠被職業人員接受，那么它就必須結合和思考一個更加廣闊的地質面貌。另一方面，業余人員繼續以傳統方式從事局部的研究。結果，業余人員在職業化地質學雜志發表文章更加困難。審稿制度首先在19世紀的全國性雜志中實行，后來在20世紀一些地方性地質雜志中也開始實行，這使這個結果得到進一步加強。這樣發展的必然結果是出現了針對專業讀者和業余讀者的不同雜志。類似的分化過程也導致職業地質學家聚集起來，形成一兩個全國性的團體，而業余地質學家則要么留在地方性團體中，要么以不同方式組成全國性的團體。

雖然職業化和專業化過程在19世紀的英國地質學界中已經得到迅速發展，但是它的效果一直拖到20世紀才充分顯示出來。然而，從整個科學來看，19世紀必須被視為科學結構發生該變化的關鍵階段。