James Hutton： Father of Modern Geology

James Hutton was born on June 3rd, 1726 in Edinburgh, Scotland. There, he was born to William Hutton, who was a merchant and a former Edinburgh city trader, and Sarah Balfour, who was a distant descendant of two professors and botany at the University of Edinburgh. Clearly, he was born into wealth and his family had many estates. In 1736, when James was 10 years old, he started at Edinburgh High School, where he studied Latin, Greek, and mathematics. By November of 1740, James had already surpassed his class and had the opportunity to attend the University of Edinburgh. Here, he concentrated in mathematics, logic, and metaphysics, studying under McLaren. By 1743, nearly three years later, he graduated at the young age of 17. After graduation, James entered the workforce as an apprentice to a solicitor. Yet, this was not what he wanted to do. He soon returned to the University of Edinburgh in November of 1744 to study medicine. He had a year off in 1745 due to a rebellion by one of his former professors, McLaren. But, he was able to return in 1746. From here on, Hutton moved around a lot. Rumor had it that he moved because he had had an illegitimate son and therefore he had left Scotland. After he left Edinburgh, he spent some time in Paris and then finally made his way to Leiden in the Netherlands. This is where he would stay and continue his medical studies until graduation in 1749. After graduation, he moved to London. While he still attended the University of Edinburgh, he was able to complete a science discovery with comrade James Davey. They researched on how to make salamonic, which was a popular chemical in welding metals. After they had discussed how they could further the experiment and make a profit from it, they moved back to Edinburgh in the summer of 1750 to set up their works, which ended up being an instant success. Still living primarily in London at the time, Hutton was now able to make visits to a farm that his father had left them after he had passed away. The farm was just west of Berwick upon Tweed. He then realized that modern farming was a topic that truly interested him. Soon enough, he moved to a farm in Norfolk where his primary research was done on modern farming. This is where his love for geology evolved. He spent over 10 years in Norfolk working on a farm developing geology theories there. He then moved back to Edinburgh where he would live with his three sisters until his death. From 1767, Edinburgh was making a transition into more modern sciences, and Hutton knew that this would be his chance. Within his pack of friends, he had Joseph Black, James Watt, and Adam Smith. Due to all the developments in science during the time, Hutton was now ready to work more solidly on his studies, turning his own home into a laboratory. He also became involved in many different activities, such as construction of the and other smaller community offices. Although this was essential for him to become involved, Hutton's true contribution was when he began looking at the age of the earth. Prior to his study, Europe had used a literal date out of the Bible for the age of the earth. James instead looked at rocks and soils. From this he knew that rocks were created under land to form new elevations. Also knowing how slow the cyclic process took, he deduced that the earth was actually much older than the Bible had depicted it to be. Yet, he did not have a way to thoroughly prove this or show how old the earth truly was. By 1784, the Royal Society of Edinburgh asked Hutton to lecture on his theory on March 7, 1785. He was ill, so Joseph Black, his friend, delivered it for him. The title was, Concerning the System of the Earth, Its Duration and Stability. He, of course, was laughed off and was made to look like he was attacking the Christian church by opposing a date that was in the Bible. He now took time off and sailed down the North Sea west of Scotland to look at the exposed rocks and cliffs. After gathering enough evidence, he wrote a book in 1795 that explained his theory more thoroughly. The theory on earth was a name, but it did not receive the critical acclaim that he had hoped for. This was due to his poor writing and poor health during the time. Soon after, in 1797, he died, unmarried, in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is most famous for his publication, which was The Theory on Earth, although it wasn't recognized until five years after his death. It was recognized when his friend, John Playfair, published Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of Earth, in which he summarized and gave a clear explanation of Hutton's work so everyone could see his accomplishments. James Hutton is modernly known as the father of geology.