Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
rocks were no longer all thought to date from the Flood. Now it was just the tertiary rocks
and the form of the land itself that testified to the Flood.
A few years later, in 1788, James Hutton's startling discovery on a windswept stretch
of Scottish coast went a step further in proving that earth history was more complicated
than allowed by a literal reading of Genesis. At least two rounds of deposition and erosion
were required to account for the deposition and deformation of the sandstone beds at Siccar
Point—meaning that there were either two independent rounds of Creation, or Earth re-
shaped itself every now and again.
The son of a successful merchant, Hutton lived comfortably while studying at the
University of Edinburgh. Upon graduation in 1743, at the age of seventeen, he apprenticed
to a solicitor, offsetting the drudgery of copying wills and contracts by distracting cowork-
ers with occasionally calamitous chemistry experiments. By the end of the summer Hut-
ton's experiments had exhausted his employer's patience. That fall he reenrolled at the uni-
versity, this time as a medical student. In 1747 he left Edinburgh to continue his studies,
starting in Paris and finishing two years later with a medical degree from the University of
Leiden (Steno's alma mater).
Despite his medical training, Hutton never seriously considered practicing medicine. In-
satiably curious, he continued studying chemistry before turning to geology. Inspired by a
favorite experiment, Hutton started a company with a former classmate to use chimney soot
to make sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride). This key component of metalworking flux
otherwise had to be imported from Egypt. The scheme was brilliant. Chimney sweeps were
thrilled to get rid of soot, and metalworkers were glad to have an affordable and reliable
supply of an essential ingredient. In combination with his inheritance, the profits meant
Hutton need not work, which left him plenty of time to pursue his many other interests.
At first, Hutton devoted himself to his family's farm. Set on 140 acres just north of the
English border, it lay on some of the best land in Scotland, where rolling hills carved out
of volcanic rock produced rich, fertile soil. In contrast to Darwin's epic voyage around the
world, Hutton began forming his radical ideas about the age of the world by watching the
dirt wash off his fields.
As he learned to read the land, he translated his love of chemistry to agriculture, devel-
oping ways to use calcium carbonate to enhance soil fertility. He also tried to retain the soil
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