James Hutton is also known as the father of modern geology. Apart from
being one of the most prominent figures in this field of science, he is
also a noted physician, naturalist, chemical manufacturer, and an
experimental agriculturalist. One of his most salient contributions to
science was his uniformitarianism which happens to be one of the
fundamental principles that geology has. Not only did he make great
observations concerning the world that surrounded him, he was able to
come up with reasoned and valid geological arguments.
Early Life and Educational Background
He was one of five children of the merchant named William Hutton who
was also at that time the city treasurer of Edinburgh. His father,
however, died when he was still young and it was their mother Sarah
Balfour who had taken care of him and his siblings.
His mother had insisted that James should attend the High School of
Edinburgh and James had shown a particular interest for chemistry and
mathematics. When he turned 14 though, he studied as a “student of
humanity” at the University of Edinburgh. He then became a lawyer’s
apprentice, but upon the advice of his employer for him to have a more
congenial career, James Hutton began to pursue his interest in medicine
as it was nearest to chemistry which was his favorite pursuit back then.
For three years, he studied in Edinburgh and was able to complete his
medical education in the University of Paris. In the year 1974, he
finished his degree as a Doctor of Medicine at Leiden where his thesis
had been on blood circulation. During that time, however, it wasn’t
exactly the boom of the medical profession and seeing there was little
opportunity for him, James Hutton left his career as a doctor and
pursued agricultural endeavors.
Careers
He had inherited a small property which had been in their family
since 1713 when his father passed away. He used this piece of land in
Berwickshire for his agricultural pursuits. It was after his not so
fruitful practice of medicine that he moved back to their farm in the
Slighhouses and he began making some improvements when he settled there
in 1750. He had experimented with both plant as well as animal
husbandry, and noted his innovations and ideas in a work called The
Elements of Agriculture. One of his more famous accomplishments in
agriculture involved his development of a red dye he was able to make
from the madder plant’s roots.
His exposure to agriculture was what had led him to develop a love
for geology for which he is famous for. The process of clearing and then
draining the farm had given him enough opportunities to observe rocks
and their formation. The farm became a stable place and later on he was
able to build a house where he and his three sisters lived in Edinburgh.
James Hutton and Geology
Back in the day, geology in the proper meaning of the word was
practically nonexistent, but there was quite a progress in mineralogy.
Ideas conceived by James Hutton were unheard of and were not easily
entertained by those who were then the experts in mineralogy. He had
desired to trace the origins of different rocks and minerals which would
then lead to a better understanding of the earth’s history.
He pursued his research for years, and it was in the spring of 1785
when he had expressed his views to the Royal Society of Edinburgh—only
recently established then through his work called Theory of the Earth,
or an Investigation of the Laws Observable in the Composition,
Dissolution and Restoration of Land upon the Globe. His work had been
remarkable and he had expressed how this study was not at all like
cosmogony.
According to Hutton, geology is a study which is confined to the
materials found on the earth and that all around there may be evidence
proving that the rocks which are now visible on the earth’s surface may
have been part of greater, older rocks which have previously been in the
bottom of the sea—that there is a cycle of rock formation and that
pressure, heat, and other factors contribute to the presence of these
materials on the earth’s surface.
He searched for evidence to prove his theories, and discovered how
granite was able to penetrate metamorphic schists—which was indicative
or granite’s being molten at one point. He had also discovered a similar
event of penetration of volcanic rocks through sedimentary rocks. James
Hutton had even travelled with John Playfair to find more geological
samples proving the origin of rocks and minerals by examining the
unconformities and rock formations they came across.
From the observations and research that Hutton had noted, he reasoned
how there must have already been innumerable cycles which each involved
the deposition of materials onto the seabed, uplift of these same
materials through tilting and erosion, and formation of different layers
under the sea. The thicknesses of the layers had implied to him the
stretches of time in between the formation of these rocks.
Other Interests
It was not only geology that had captured the attention of Hutton,
but he also had an interest for meteorology and the earth’s atmosphere.
Apart from his publication called “Theory of the Earth” he also had one
entitled “Theory of the Rain” where he had investigated about the
climate as well as rainfall in different parts of the world which led
him to conclude that rainfall is regulated by humidity as well as air
currents.
He had also believed that the earth is a superorganism, but this idea of his was overshadowed by the reductionism in the 19th century. Apart from those beliefs, he also advocated the uniformitarianism for living organisms.
Much of the contributions of Hutton received less attention than it
should have when he was still alive, but five years after his death,
John Playfair published a great summary of Hutton’s works in
Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, and a biography of
the father of geology was also published by Playfair in the fifth volume
of Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.
