Scottish James Hutton (1726-1797), considered the father of modern geology, was an 18th-century geologist, farmer and physician. He discovered that heat from within the Earth is involved in mineralization, and proved the existence of unconformities in rock layers.
Doctor James Hutton the Farmer
In the 1760s, having successfully established his inherited-farm at Slighthouses into one of the most innovative and prosperous farms in Scotland, he traveled extensively around Britain, studying the landscape and rocks, bringing sample after sample of rocks and minerals back home. His close involvement with the land as a farmer had a crucial influence on his geological ideas.
Geologist James Hutton Returns to Edinburgh
With his farm well-established, Hutton moved back to Edinburgh in 1770 and was caught up in the intellectual ferment gripping the city. He met and befriended some of them, including David Hume, the great philosopher of human nature; Adam Smith, author of the famous book on capitalism The Wealth of Nations; James Watt, inventor of the steam engine; and Joseph Black, who discovered carbon dioxide. Black and Watt were among his great supporters and closest friends.
Before long, Hutton and Black teamed up to work on what was one of the key problems in geology at the time – just how did all the different minerals of which rock are made form? During his work with Black, Hutton realized that it was heat from within the Earth that was involved in mineralization, and most importantly, heat with extreme pressures such as those only found deep within the Earth.
James Hutton's Findings Presented
In 1785 Hutton decided to present his findings to the Royal Society of Edinburgh. In particular, Hutton was interested in granite rock, an 'igneous' rock which forms from molten magma from inside the Earth. Hutton wanted to show that outcrops of granite form after, not before, the sediments surrounding it. This is in opposition to the previous beliefs from German geologist Gottlieb Werner's that all sediments were formed by the universal ocean and were simply laid down on top of primitive igneous rock.
In 1788, he saw the graphic proof he was searching for in Glen Tilt in the Grampian Mountains, where granite veins had clearly been injected into the surrounding rock. Later in the summer, he took John Playfair and James Hall to Siccar Point on the North Sea coast to show them the existence of "unconformities," and he had all the proofs he needed. The unconformities were places in which there were clear breaks in the orderly pattern where rock layers were laid one on top of another over time.
Last Years of James Hutton
Playfair and Hall were convinced but others weren't. A leading Irish academic, Richard Kirwan, suggested that Hutton's theories were blasphemies. Unfortunately, Hutton fell ill to respond, but his book Theory of the Earth, explaining his theories and giving the proofs, were underway. He was unable to complete the last of the three volumes containing all his proofs. He died in March 26, 1797.
Hutton the Founder of Modern Geology
John Playfair and James Hall took up his work. Playfair wrote a simple summary of his ideas. Hall conducted laboratory experiments to show that igneous rock could form mineral crystals simply by slowly cooling down.
It was to be another 35 years before Charles Lyell wrote his famous book Principles of Geology, which made James Hutton's ideas the foundation of modern geology. It also provided Charles Darwin an inspiration for his theory of evolution.
Related Article
Sources:
Chambers Biographical Dictionary, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers Harrap Publishers, 2002
The Great Scientists by Farndon, John, etal. Capella / Arcturus, 2005
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