1788: James Hutton’s paper Theory of the Earth printed, introduces uniformitarianism [113]

Art Piece: Rocky Mountains, “Lander’s Peak”, Albert Bierstadt, 1863 [5]

Paper: Uniformitarianism. An Inquiry into Principle, Theory, and Method in Geohistory and Biohistory [161]

Slow, gradual processes have carved most of our valleys and canyons, like the Grand Canyon [164]. These slow processes happen on time scales of hundreds and thousands of years, and many of us may not even entirely notice these slow physical and geological processes actively happening during our lifetimes. James Hutton’s significant work Theory of the Earth, explores just these ideas, with Hutton’s ideas about uniformitarianism becoming very important both in the context of geology, as well as in the context of evolution [189] as well. Notably, Hutton proposed ideas that the Earth went through cycles of both disrepair and also renewal, and that slow, gradual processes like erosion and weathering were cornerstones [181] of the changes in terrain and landscape. Famously Hutton remarked, “The result, therefore, of this physical enquiry…is that we find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end.” Rather than some definite beginning or end, the land and the Earth rather endure through time, these slow processes changing the planet over time, gradually. This was a significant departure from other schools of thought — to contrast uniformitarianism, there was catastrophism [74], which was defined by large, almost cataclysmic events changing the Earth and its surface. Events like the Biblical Great Flood related to catastrophism, due to their possible places in Scripture or due to religious influences/beliefs on Hutton’s geological contemporaries. Uniformitarianism also plays a large role in helping give more insight into how natural selection and evolution work — evolution is a similarly slow, gradual process, where natural selection selects ‘for’ advantageous adaptations. Evolution does not simply happen overnight, much like how uniformitarianism’s processes also do not happen overnight. The image above [5] greatly exemplifies these ideas, with the painting, “Rocky Mountains, ‘Lander’s Peak’” highlighting peaks which jut out into the sky, with cliffs and valleys, and intricate rock formations. This landscape did not occur overnight — rather, the shaping of these geological features are the result of hundreds, thousands, perhaps even millions of years of slow, gradual changes induced by weathering and erosion. Hutton’s ideas were a significant paradigm shift, and unlike uniformitarianism itself, which is defined by slow changes, the paradigm shift caused by Hutton’s ideas was instead quite large and significant in size. The paper above [161] both contextualizes and also adds on to Hutton’s ideas; the paper explores uniformitarianism in the context of theory and principle, as well as geohistorical and biohistorical methods. This exploration is an important one, as it allows us to improve upon great ideas like that of Hutton’s even more.