In 1851, Puggaard published in Danish his book on the geology of the Island of
Møn (
Möens Geologie. Populært fremstillet. Tillige som Veiviser for Besögende af Möens Klint) which was rewarded with the gold medal of the
University of Copenhagen. The book was later slightly changed and translated into German under the title
Geologie der Insel Möen. Following this publication, the
University of Bern gave him the title of Doctor in Philosophy. The book was illustrated by some of the best painters of the Danish Golden age, such as
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg,
P.C. Skovgaard and
Vilhelm Kyhn. Based on the sedimentary layers and fossils, Puggaard provides a fantastic narrative on how our planet developed from a globe of fluid stone into the progressive development of life. After being submerged in an ocean inhabited with tropical species, the site of Møn became covered by an Arctic Ocean with icebergs, and finally emerged as a wooded island populated by Stone Age men and mammoths. In this regard his views were opposed to Forchhammers and ahead of their time. Puggaard also later published various contributions on the geology of the
Sorrento Peninsula and the
Alps. Puggaard died young, while doing research on the cliffs in Normandy. ==Personal life==