HUTTON, JAMES (b. Edinburgh, Scotland, 3 June 1726; d. Edinburgh, 26 March 1797), geology, agriculture, physical sciences, philosophy.

    of the rocks with which he was familiar, particularly the dynamically metamorphosed sediments in the Scottish Highlands and some unmetamorphosed limestones, were crystalline. This knowledge appears to have influenced him in reaching the conclusion that consolidation had been effected by heat. He claimed that many, although not all, the sediments had actually been fused. A difficulty inherent in this argument was that heat of the intensity he envisaged would have decomposed limestones. He dealt with this problem in the following statement:

The essential difference, however, between the natural heat of the mineral regions, and that which we excite upon the surface of the earth, consists in this; that nature applies heat under circumstances which we are not able to imitate, that is, under such compression as shall prevent the decomposition of the constituent substances, by the separation of the more volatile from the more fixed parts [Theory, I (1795), 140].

Sir James Hall was later to prove experimentally that this assumption was justified.

The problem raised by Hutton's demonstration that consolidated strata had been elevated to form dry land was a formidable one. He might perhaps have evaded the issue, as others had done, by suggesting that elevation had resulted from the operation of some cataclysmic action comparable in kind to that which brought about earthquakes. Had he done so, his theory might have received less criticism, but that was not Hutton's way. He wished to get to the root of the matter. He was clearly impressed by the immense force exerted by volcanic activity, in breaking through great thicknesses of consolidated strata, followed by the eruption of lava with explosive violence; and, as he indicated in the Abstract, he supposed that the shattering and distortion of strata that once existed as undisturbed horizontal beds must have resulted from the action of the same force. He was also familiar with all the properties of heat known at that time, including its expansive effects on solids, liquids, and gases. He inferred, correctly, that there must exist in his “mineral region” a potential source of immense power (now it would be termed energy), and he assumed that it was heat that brought this power into action. He therefore concluded “that the land on which we now dwell has been elevated from a lower situation by the same agent employed in consolidating the strata ... this agent is matter actuated by extreme heat, and expanded with amazing force” (“Theory” [1788], p. 266). He made no attempt to explain matters in more detail, but he qualified his conclusion by adding, “The raising up of a continent of land from the bottom of the sea is an idea that is too great to be conceived easily in all parts of its operation, many of which are perhaps unknown to us” (ibid., p. 295). That Hutton failed to solve this problem, one that continues to engage the attention of geologists, is not surprising, but at least he attempted to solve it scientifically.

Reception of the Theory.

It has often been stated that Hutton's theory was little understood before the publication in 1802 of Playfair's Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth. This may be true, and certainly Lyell seems to have derived his knowledge of Hutton's views principally from this source.7 Nevertheless the theory had been widely read before then, for it had already received critical notices in both British and foreign publications; translations of the Abstract and the 1788 “Theory” had appeared in Germany8 and France; and the theory had received some notice at least as early as 1805 in the United States. Undoubtedly Hutton's views became quite widely known in the early years of the nineteenth century. Yet in spite of the growing interest in geology, and the rapid accumulation of factual observations, it was not until after 1830 that his theories began to gain general acceptance, largely because of Playfair's Illustrations and the publication of Lyell's Principles of Geology (London, 1830-1833). Lyell accepted most, although not all, of Hutton's views, and expounded them fully in his book; but he and his followers did not accept Hutton's conclusions on the importance of the erosional action of rivers. Some thirty years passed before geologists in both Great Britain and the United States realized that Hutton had been right.

The delay in the recognition of Hutton's work can be attributed to a variety of causes acting collectively: the natural conservatism of many geologists; reluctance to abandon belief in the biblical account of creation; the widespread influence of geologists of the Wernerian school; and the rise of catastrophism. By 1830, however, geologists, although still conservative in outlook, were much better equipped to assess the value of the Huttonian theory.

Agriculture and Evolution.

Hutton must have retained an interest in agriculture long after he ceased farming, for shortly before he died he was engaged in preparing for publication a treatise entitled “Principles of Agriculture.” This has survived as a manuscript of 1045 pages. Hutton stated in the preface that his objectives in writing this treatise were to assist the farming community to judge whether they were farming on sound scientific and economic principles; to promote the general good of the country; and for his own “pleasure in what has been in a manner the study of my life.”