Who is hutton and lyell

His ideas were startling at a time when most natural philosophers—the term scientist had not yet been coined—believed that the Earth had been created by God roughly 6, years earlier. The popular notion was that the world had been in a continual decline ever since the perfection of Eden.

Therefore, it had to be young. At Siccar Point, Hutton pointed to proof of his theory: the junction of two types of rock created at different times and by different forces.

Gray layers of metamorphic rock rose vertically, like weathered boards stuck in the ground. They stabbed into horizontal layers of red, layered sandstone, rock only beginning to be deposited.

The gray rock, Hutton explained, had originally been laid down in horizontal layers of perhaps an inch a year of sediment long ago. Over time, subterranean heat and pressure transformed the sediment into rock and then a force caused the strata to buckle, fold and become vertical.

Here, he added, was irrefutable proof the Earth was far older than the prevailing belief of the time. John Playfair, a mathematician who would go on to become Hutton's biographer with his book, Life of Dr. Hutton , accompanied him that day. Hutton, born in , never became famous for his theories during his life. However, prior to , uniformitarianism was not the prevailing theory. Until that time, scientists subscribed to the idea of catastrophism.

Catastrophism suggested the features seen on the surface of Earth, such as mountains, were formed by large, abrupt changes—or catastrophes. When discussing past climates, opponents to uniformitarianism may speak of no-analog changes. This idea suggests that certain communities or conditions that existed in the past may not be found on Earth today. The idea of catastrophism was eventually challenged based on the observations and studies of two men—James Hutton and Charles Lyell. Hutton — was a Scottish farmer and naturalist.

In his observations of the world around him, he became convinced natural processes, such as mountain building and erosion, occurred slowly over time through geologic forces that have been at work since Earth first formed. He eventually turned his observations and ideas into what became known as the Principle of Uniformitarianism. Among the scientists who agreed with Hutton was Charles Lyell.

Lyell — was a Scottish geologist. He found his own examples of these processes in his examination of rocks and sediments. For example, he discovered evidence that sea levels had risen and fallen in the past, that volcanoes may exist atop older rocks, and that valleys form slowly by the erosional power of water.

The combined efforts of Lyell and Hutton became the foundation of modern geology. Charles Darwin, the founder of evolutionary biology , looked at uniformitarianism as support for his theory of how new species emerge.

The evolution of life, he realized, required vast amounts of time, and the science of geology now showed Earth was extremely old. Malthus ' work made Darwin realize the importance of overpopulation and how it was necessary to have variability in different populations. Julio Tzschucke Explainer.

How is evolution a pattern? Evolution over time can follow several different patterns. Factors such as environment and predation pressures can have different effects on the ways in which species exposed to them evolve. Agricio Bahlaev Explainer. What is Uniformitarianism in evolution? Uniformitarianism is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in the universe now, have always operated in the universe in the past and apply everywhere in the universe.

It has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the key to the past" and is functioning at the same rates. Zilda Raolwic Explainer. What did Hutton and Lyell say about the earth? Lyell's version of geology came to be known as uniformitarianism, because of his fierce insistence that the processes that alter the Earth are uniform through time. Like Hutton , Lyell viewed the history of Earth as being vast and directionless.

Lyell crafted a powerful lens for viewing the history of the Earth. Felisinda Sada Pundit. How does natural selection occur? Natural selection occurs when some of those traits help some individuals survive and reproduce more than others. That causes their genes to become more common in the population over time, and it's the way species evolve to adapt to changes in their environment.

Amran Vedyaev Pundit. What did Hutton do? James Hutton , born June 3, , Edinburgh, Scotland—died March 26, , Edinburgh , Scottish geologist, chemist, naturalist, and originator of one of the fundamental principles of geology—uniformitarianism, which explains the features of the Earth's crust by means of natural processes over geologic time. Karlo Lummu Pundit. What are 3 examples of Uniformitarianism?

Uniformitarianism is a theory based on the work of James Hutton and made popular by Charles Lyell in the 19 th century. The earth sculpting processes alluded to above are the processes of erosion, deposition, compaction and uplift. Although these processes are constant, they occur at extremely slow rates.