Tag Archives: Uniformitarianism

A 1910 photograph of the physicist William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin, conducting compass measurements.
1862: Tracing Earth’s Timeline – The Scientific Journey to Determine Its Age

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin, initially estimated Earth's age at 20 to 40 million years, a figure debated by nineteenth-century scientists. The discovery of radioactivity led to a revised estimate of 4.567 billion years, aligning with [...]

Top: An 1865 engraving featuring the geologist Sir Charles Lyell. Bottom: An illustration from Lyell's "Elements of Geology," displaying an idealized cross-section of igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks in the geological record.
1830: Charles Lyell’s Uniformitarianism – Unraveling Earth’s Timeless Mysteries

Charles Lyell's 1830 book "Principles of Geology" established uniformitarianism, proposing that current geological processes hold the key to understanding Earth's ancient history. This idea, opposing the catastrophism view, helped shape modern geology by advocating a [...]

Main image: Layered rocks at Siccar Point, Scotland, showcasing one of the earliest-recognized unconformities in the geological record. Inset: A sketch from a 1920 geology textbook depicting Scottish geologist James Hutton.
1788: James Hutton’s Discovery of Unconformities

James Hutton revolutionized geology with his observation of angular unconformities in rock layers, leading to the understanding of "deep time" and laying the foundation for modern geological principles