James Hutton, a Scottish farmer and naturalist, is known as the father of modern geology. Hutton believed that the Earth was constantly being formed through molten material being forced up into mountains, eroded, and then washed away. He recognized that the history of the Earth could be determined by understanding how processes such as erosion and sedimentation work in the present day. His ideas and approach to studying the Earth established geology as a proper science.
Born in Edinburgh, he studied medicine and chemistry at the Universities of Edinburgh, Paris, and Leiden, in the Netherlands, and then spent fourteen years running two small family farms. It was farming that gave rise to Hutton's obsession with how the land could stand up against the destructive forces of wind and weather he saw at work around him. This new science had just been given the name "geology".
Hutton first presented his findings in 1788 before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, describing a universe very different from the Biblical teachings--one formed by a continuous cycle in which rocks and soil are washed into the sea, compacted into bedrock, forced up to the surface by volcanic processes, and eventually worn away into sediment once again.
Born in Edinburgh, he studied medicine and chemistry at the Universities of Edinburgh, Paris, and Leiden, in the Netherlands, and then spent fourteen years running two small family farms. It was farming that gave rise to Hutton's obsession with how the land could stand up against the destructive forces of wind and weather he saw at work around him. This new science had just been given the name "geology".
Hutton first presented his findings in 1788 before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, describing a universe very different from the Biblical teachings--one formed by a continuous cycle in which rocks and soil are washed into the sea, compacted into bedrock, forced up to the surface by volcanic processes, and eventually worn away into sediment once again.
James Hutton, a Scottish farmer and naturalist, is known as the father of modern geology. Hutton believed that the Earth was constantly being formed through molten material being forced up into mountains, eroded, and then washed away. He recognized that the history of the Earth could be determined by understanding how processes such as erosion and sedimentation work in the present day. His ideas and approach to studying the Earth established geology as a proper science.
Born in Edinburgh, he studied medicine and chemistry at the Universities of Edinburgh, Paris, and Leiden, in the Netherlands, and then spent fourteen years running two small family farms. It was farming that gave rise to Hutton's obsession with how the land could stand up against the destructive forces of wind and weather he saw at work around him. This new science had just been given the name "geology".
Hutton first presented his findings in 1788 before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, describing a universe very different from the Biblical teachings--one formed by a continuous cycle in which rocks and soil are washed into the sea, compacted into bedrock, forced up to the surface by volcanic processes, and eventually worn away into sediment once again.
Born in Edinburgh, he studied medicine and chemistry at the Universities of Edinburgh, Paris, and Leiden, in the Netherlands, and then spent fourteen years running two small family farms. It was farming that gave rise to Hutton's obsession with how the land could stand up against the destructive forces of wind and weather he saw at work around him. This new science had just been given the name "geology".
Hutton first presented his findings in 1788 before the Royal Society of Edinburgh, describing a universe very different from the Biblical teachings--one formed by a continuous cycle in which rocks and soil are washed into the sea, compacted into bedrock, forced up to the surface by volcanic processes, and eventually worn away into sediment once again.
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