1726-1797. Scottish geologist, known as the
`founder of geology', who formulated the
concept of uniformitarianism. In 1785 he
developed a theory of the igneous origin of
many rocks. His Theory of the Earth 1788
proposed that the Earth was indefinitely old.
Uniformitarianism suggests that past events
could be explained in terms of processes that
work today. For example, the kind of river
current that produces a certain settling
pattern in a bed of sand today must have been
operating many millions of years ago, if that
same pattern is visible in ancient
sandstones.