The Man Who Found Time


Book Description

There are four men whose life's work helped free science from the straitjacket of religion. Three of the four - Nicolaus Copernicus, Galileo Galilei, and Charles Darwin - are widely heralded for their breakthroughs. The fourth, James Hutton, is comparatively unknown. A Scottish gentleman farmer, Hutton's observations on his small tract of land led him to a theory that directly contradicted biblical claims that the Earth was only 6,000 years old. Telling the story not only of Hutton, but of the rich intellectual milieu 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 - The Man Who Found Time is an enlightening, engaging narrative about a little-known man and the science he established.




Ages in Chaos


Book Description

In the lusty and turbulent world of Enlightenment Scotland, he set out to prove it.".







James Hutton and the History of Geology


Book Description

In James Hutton and the History of Geology, Dennis R. Dean provides a more accurate and complete account of Hutton's major geological writings than any that has hitherto appeared. He examines the growth and development of Hutton's thought in the light of his training and experience in medicine, agriculture, and philosophy, locating him within the intellectual milieux of Edinburgh at the height of the Scottish Enlightenment.




Earth


Book Description

A collection of essays and articles provides a study of how the planet works, discussing Earth's structure, geographical features, geologic history, and evolution.




Radioactivity: A Very Short Introduction


Book Description

Radioactivity - the breakdown of unstable atomic nuclei, releasing radiation - is a fundamental process in nature, and used to provide important applications in science, medicine, and energy production. But it remains misunderstood and feared. In this Very Short Introduction, Claudio Tuniz explains the nature and mechanisms of radioactivity.




Thinking about the Earth


Book Description

Thinking about the Earth is a history of the geological tradition of Western science. David Oldroyd traverses such topics as "mechanical" and "historicist" views of the earth, map-work, chemical analyses of rocks and minerals, geomorphology, experimental petrology, seismology, theories of mountain building, and geochemistry.




Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth


Book Description

John Playfair's (1748-1819) highly influential explanation and defence, first published in 1802, of James Hutton's geological theories.