Book Review: The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity,
George O. Chandlee Source Environmental Sciences, Inc.
Repcheck, J., The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity, 247 pages, Perseus Publishing, $26.00.
Thoughtful observation and reconciliation of fact and belief is a fundamental process for geoscientists. These are actions imple- mented daily and are the source of new concepts and theories. These are recurring themes throughout the history of geological science. As Jack Repchek points out in his book The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity, such is the case for the 18th-century Scottish gentleman farmer and natural philosopher James Hutton. Hutton studied his land, tended to his farm, observed the subtle and slow changes in the land and developed a novel conclusion: changes in the earth, erosion, topographical changes and the like that he observed could not be attributed to one cataclysmic flood 6,000 years ago, as was taught by the Church. More likely, it appeared that the forces of volcanoes, earthquakes, wind and rain could have sufficed to produce the landscape. These are slow-acting forces, however. Therefore, the missing factor must be “deep and immense time”; time so deep that these forces would have ample opportunity to produce an observable impact. In 1788, Hutton formally presented proof that the earth was much older than the 6,000 or so years being taught by the Church. In fact, its age was incalculable and could conceivably be tens or hundreds of millions of years old.
Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin are frequently regarded as key figures in the emancipation of science from the binding dogma of religious orthodoxy. But James Hutton should be included among them as a pioneering observer. Biblical scholars had per- sistently “demonstrated” for centuries that the first day of Creation occurred in approximately 4000 BC. In fact, biblical chronology, as the discipline of precise biblical dating was called, was one of the most rigorous “sciences” of the pre-Renaissance era. Many recognized figures from church history, including the prophet Elijah, St. Augustine, St. Bede, St. Thomas Aquinas and even Martin Luther had commented on the age of the earth.
Hutton’s insight laid the foundations of modern geology and provided a necessary framework for the theory of evolution. In The Man Who Found Time, Repcheck argues that Hutton deserves recognition similar to Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin for helping to separate science from theology. In this book,Repchek touches on biblical chronology, the Scottish Prince “Bonnie Prince Charlie” and the Scottish Enlightenment. He paints a portrait of a gifted if enigmatic man who insisted on accepting the face value of his observations.
Hutton’s discovery was important at its time because no other scientist argued against the chronology set out by the Bible. In fact, scientists made their observations fit into the Bible’s time- line. In a way, Hutton’ s theory contradicted prevailing orthodoxy more than the theories of Copernicus, Galileo or Darwin: Copernicus made the sun, not the Earth, the center of the uni- verse; Galileo challenged ideas about the structure of the solar system; and Darwin shed light on the origins of man. Hutton’s research and claims neutralized the Biblical chronology of Earth’s history and completely changed our concept of the history of the planet. Hutton deduced that, in terms of man’s presence, the Earth practically has no beginning or end.
Very little information is available about Hutton’s personal life, but Repcheck does a first-class job of providing insights about his life and times. As background information, Repchek digresses in several directions. For example, Repcheck gives an excellent and fascinating history of biblical chronology and discusses in detail the Scottish Enlightenment in which Hutton participated. There is also an interesting account of Scottish history during Hutton’s lifetime and the period preceding it, including the rebellion led by Bonnie Prince Charlie.
Hutton was a contemporary of powerful and well-recognized members of the Scottish Enlightenment, such as David Hume, Adam Smith and James Watt. However, Hutton’s 1795 book, The Theory of the Earth, was so long, obscure and poorly written that it nearly fell into obscurity. Charles Lyell rescued and promoted Hutton’s ideas. James Hutton’s work set the stage for geologist Charles Lyell and the early geologists, who would use and verify Hutton’s ideas. Unfortunately, Hutton was soon forgotten in the annals of history, mainly because his only published major work was so academic and indecipherable that it was largely ignored.
The Man Who Found Time is full of interesting information, a significant portion of which is devoted to discussing the history of the Church and the Scottish Enlightenment, as well as details of Hutton’s life. This book will be of interest to geologists because it provides a perspective into the life of Hutton, the man known as the “father of deep time.” Repcheck does an excellent job in establishing and returning the credit due Hutton. Geoscientists will find the book engaging and full of information concerning the times and personality of Hutton.
November 2005 Houston Geological Society Bulletin 53