James Hutton and Farming
Scottish Physician, Experimental Farmer, Naturalist and Geologist
Aug 13, 2008
James Hutton was the brilliant 18th-century Scottish geologist and farmer, considered the father of modern geology. His studies of the rock formations helped him to formulate his most famous work, Theory of the Earth, used as the basis for geological theory.
Early Life of James Hutton
James Hutton was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in June 14, 1726, the eldest son of Sarah and William Hutton. His childhood was peaceful enough. He was educated at Edinburgh High School, then as a teenager at the University of Edinburgh, where he came under the eye of Colin Maclaurin, who had worked with the aging Isaac Newton in London. Maclaurin, an admirer of Newton, introduced Hutton to Newton's ideas, notably the cycles of the planets, which had a marked influence on him.
Maclaurin also introduced Hutton to the idea of deism – the idea of a God who perfectly designed and created the universe, then let it to run by itself. This idea played a significant part in Hutton's way of thinking, and helped him to see that the idea of an ancient Earth did not conflict with belief in God.
At this point in time in his youth, there was nothing in James Hutton's life to indicate his later interest in the Earth. When he left university in 1745, aged 19, he went to medical school to train as a doctor, the same year that Charles Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charlie, led the last Scottish rebellion.
Physician and Early Chemical Works
While training for medicine, young Hutton was obliged to leave Edinburgh out of embarrassment for having made a young servant girl pregnant. He went to Paris and studied medicine there for five years, before completing his medical training at Leyden in Holland.
From Holland, he went to London, and in the summer of 1750, aged 24, he went back to Edinburgh and resumed chemical experiments with close friend, James Davie. Their work led to a profitable partnership in chemical works, manufacturing the crystalline salt which was used for dyeing, metalworking and as smelling salts. Hutton owned and rented out properties in Edinburgh, to manage this business.
Hutton the Innovative Farmer
In the 1750s, he inherited the family Berwickshire farm at Slighhouses into one of the most innovative, prosperous farms in Scotland. It was a lowland farm which had been in the family since 1713. He decided to become a farmer and moved to Slighhouses. He set out making improvements by learning the latest farming techniques, and made Slighhouses into one of the most innovative, prosperous farms in Scotland.
He also introduced farming practices from other parts of Britain and experimented with plant and animal husbandry. He recorded his ideas in an unpublished treatise The Elements of Agriculture. By the early 1760s, Hutton's interests in the Earth and geology were formed.
Readers may want to check out the other side of Hutton, James Hutton the Geologist.
Sources:
Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers, 2002
The Great Scientist by Farndon, John, etal. Capella / Arcturus, 2005
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