Rare Book & Manuscript Library

Descriptive Information

Title

Theory of the earth, with proofs and illustrations.

Description

James Hutton presented this drawing of an angular “junction” (i.e., unconformity) between layers of the Earth near Jedburgh, Scotland as evidence for his Theory of the Earth (1788). Hutton’s illustration is another example of a pre-19th century, ahistorical approach to interpreting geologic layers. He viewed this scene as supportive of an endlessly repetitive cycle in which the older layers were tilted and eroded to form new material for the younger layers. This theory clearly has temporal aspects, but it lacked any sense of directionality in the overall sequence, or distinctiveness to each discrete layers; that is, historical context. For Hutton, there was “no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.” This famous phrase should be understood in a literal sense: the Earth is eternal, with no beginning, no end, and no unique history for any given cycle. Hutton’s arguments placed him on the opposite end of the intellectual spectrum from those that proposed an Earth that was only a few millennia old (e.g., Ussher), which garnered criticsm from savants that sought a middle path: an exceptionally old Earth with a finite history.

Call Number (click link to view in library catalog)

551.7 H979t

See Also

Full Text Available at HathiTrust

Authors

Hutton, James

Full Title

Theory of the earth, with proofs and illustrations. In four parts.

Date

1795

From the Exhibit

In Search of Lost Time: History in the Layers of the Earth

Publisher

Printed for Messrs Cadell, junior, and Davies, London; and W. Creech

Location

Edinburgh

Language

English

Rights

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Type

Text

Medium

Book

Bibliographic Citation

Hutton, James. Theory of the Earth, with Proofs and Illustrations. Edinburgh: Printed for Messrs Cadell, junior, and Davies, London; and W. Creech, 1795-1899.