Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
As the century closed Kelvin's final written word on the sub-
ject was published, gloriously entitled: 'The age of the Earth as
an abode fitted for life'. With these new data on the melting
point of rocks he determined that the time when the surface of
the Earth was cool enough, and the temperature of the sun hot
enough 'to support some kind of vegetable and animal life' was
between 40 and 20 million years ago, with Kelvin's personal
preference being for the lower value. There was an uproar from
the geologists and biologists as even the most 'time-conscious'
of these could see that 20 million years was just not enough for
geological processes to have shaped the world, or for life to have
evolved to its current state of complexity. The two sides seemed
irreconcilable.
