The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth's Antiquity

by JackRepcheck (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $3.25

  In this book, Jack Repcheck tells the story of this Scottish gentleman farmer and how his simple observations on his small tract of land led him to a theory that was in direct confrontation with the Bible and that also provided the scientific proof that would spark Darwin's theory of evolution. It is also the story of Scotland and the Scottish Enlightenment, which brought together some of the greatest thinkers of the age, from David Hume and Adam Smith to James Watt and Erasmus Darwin. Finally, it is a story about the power of the written word. Repcheck argues that Hutton's work was lost to history because he could not describe his findings in graceful and readable prose. (Unlike Darwin's On the Origin of Species , Hutton's one and only book was impenetrable.) A narrative about a little-known man and the science he founded, this text is also a parable about the power of books to shape the history of ideas.

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $11.84

  It is also a story of the Scottish Enlightenment, which brought together some of the greatest thinkers of the age, from David Hume and Adam Smith to James Watt and Erasmus Darwin. And running through the narrative is a theme about the power of the written word. Repcheck argues that Hutton's work was lost to history because he could not describe his findings in graceful and readable prose -- unlike Darwin's ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES, for example, Hutton's one and only book was impenetrable, and consequently its message was never embraced by a general audience. A gripping and enlightening exploration of a little-known man and the science he founded, THE MAN WHO FOUND TIME is also a parable about the power of books to shape the history of ideas.

• New

  Paperback
  2009

  $22.14

  James Hutton proved that the earth was likely millions of years old, rather than the six thousand calculated by the bible, and that it was continuously shaped and re-shaped by myriad everyday forces rather than any single cataclysmic event. This book tells the remarkable story of this Scottish gentleman farmer.