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JAMES HUTTON (1726-1797)
'Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe' in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, volume I, Edinburgh: J. Dickson, 1788. 4° (282 x 225mm.), half title, engraved circular vignette on title, 2 folding engraved plates and 2 engraved plates accompanying Hutton's paper. (Occasional minor offsetting and spotting). Original boards, uncut and unopened (spine worn, extremities rubbed). Provenance: John C. Thackray.
FIRST PERIODICAL PUBLICATION OF HUTTON'S FAMOUS PAPER NOW REGARDED AS THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN GEOLOGY. It is divided into four parts: the first demonstrates that the Earth is a unique creation by a divine Creator consisting of core, water, crust and air, all of which in turn are governed by basic powers such as centrifugal forces, light, heat, cold and condensation, all of which keep the Earth in balance; part II deals with the consolidation of strata, refuting the theory of aqueous solution and crystallization, substituting heat and fusion as the relevant processes; the third part investigates land production above sea level, demonstrating subterranean heat is universal and sufficient to achieve uplift; and finally, Hutton rejects catastrophism, and embraces a uniformitarian view whereby processes observable in the present have always been at work in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. This paper was later used as the first chapter of Hutton's expanded three volume thesis, of which two volumes were published in 1795. 'It firmly established the conception of the geological cycle and insisted on the length of geological time' (Challinor p.69). Challinor 40; Dean p.277; Dibner 93; Horblit 52a (note); Milestones of Science 107; Norman 1130 (offprint); Ward & Carozzi 1161; cf. PMM 247.
'Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe' in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, volume I, Edinburgh: J. Dickson, 1788. 4° (282 x 225mm.), half title, engraved circular vignette on title, 2 folding engraved plates and 2 engraved plates accompanying Hutton's paper. (Occasional minor offsetting and spotting). Original boards, uncut and unopened (spine worn, extremities rubbed). Provenance: John C. Thackray.
FIRST PERIODICAL PUBLICATION OF HUTTON'S FAMOUS PAPER NOW REGARDED AS THE FOUNDATION OF MODERN GEOLOGY. It is divided into four parts: the first demonstrates that the Earth is a unique creation by a divine Creator consisting of core, water, crust and air, all of which in turn are governed by basic powers such as centrifugal forces, light, heat, cold and condensation, all of which keep the Earth in balance; part II deals with the consolidation of strata, refuting the theory of aqueous solution and crystallization, substituting heat and fusion as the relevant processes; the third part investigates land production above sea level, demonstrating subterranean heat is universal and sufficient to achieve uplift; and finally, Hutton rejects catastrophism, and embraces a uniformitarian view whereby processes observable in the present have always been at work in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. This paper was later used as the first chapter of Hutton's expanded three volume thesis, of which two volumes were published in 1795. 'It firmly established the conception of the geological cycle and insisted on the length of geological time' (Challinor p.69). Challinor 40; Dean p.277; Dibner 93; Horblit 52a (note); Milestones of Science 107; Norman 1130 (offprint); Ward & Carozzi 1161; cf. PMM 247.