by StephenBaxter (Author)
In 1650, the theologian and scholar Bishop James Ussher announced that the world was created on 23rd October 4004 BC. This date had been carefully calculated by adding together all the ages and reigns of the monarchs recorded in the Bible. In the late eighteenth century, James Hutton set out to prove him wrong. A gentleman farmer with legal and medical training, Hutton was fascinated by the natural landscape and in particular by rock formations. He was also surrounded by some of the most brilliant men of his day - Erasmus Darwin, Adam Smith, James Watt and David Hume. Looking at the irregular strata in the layers of the earth, Hutton deduced that the world must be much, much older than Ussher's prediction. His revelation was blasphemy - but it was also one of the most extraordinary defining moments in history, forming the framework for Darwin's theory of evolution, and shaping our modern view of the world and our place in it.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 256
Edition: New
Publisher: Phoenix
Published: 05 Feb 2004
ISBN 10: 0753817616
ISBN 13: 9780753817612
Book Overview: This is the first modern biography of James Hutton but it's also the gripping story of a scientific quest with a powerful narrative Portrait of the fascinating Enlightenment period of Scottish history and its key players, a colourful crowd. Stephen Baxter is one of Britain's leading science fiction writers and has a large fan base. 'Sets out the Enlightenment context of his work and lucidly describes his ideas' Graham Farmelo, Sunday Telegraph 'Baxter, a leading science fiction writer, employs his storytelling skills to lucid effect in a highly readable biography of a fascinating, neglected figure' Time Out 'James Hutton gave an 18th century still thirled to a biblical timescale its first glimpse of geological time' Jim Gilchrist, Scotsman
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