Hutton, James


Scottish natural philosopher of the eighteenth century; generally regarded as the founder of modern geology. He argued that the Earth is very old and that its history can be read in the rocks. He also argued that the physical processes that shape the Earth today are the same as those that operated in the past.

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The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.