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HUTTON, JAMES (b. Edinburgh, Scotland, 3 June
1726; d. Edinburgh, 26 March 1797), geology, agriculture,
physical sciences, philosophy.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
and diplomat, in 1770 or 1771 have been published by
V. A. Eyles and J. M. Eyles as “Some Geological Correspondence
of James Hutton,” in Annals of Science,7
(1951), 316-339.
II. SECONDARY LITERATURE.
The only complete account
of Hutton's life is John Playfair, “Biographical Account
of the Late Dr James Hutton, F.R.S. Edin.,” in Transactions
of the Royal Society of Edinburgh,5 (1803), 39-99, facs.
repr. in Contributions to the History of Geology, V (1970),
141-203, repr. in The Works of John Playfair, IV (Edinburgh,
1822), 33-118. Playfair discusses critically Hutton's
published works. A few additional details about Hutton's
activities as a farmer are included in “Principles of
Agriculture.”
W. Ramsay, Life and Letters of Joseph Black, M.D.
(London, 1918); and Partners in Science: Letters of James
Watt and Joseph Black, E. Robinson and D. McKie, eds.
(London, 1970), contain interesting references to Hutton;
especially to his illness and to his natural son. Other unpublished
letters of Black in the library of Edinburgh University
are also worth consulting. For brief references to
Hutton in the published diaries and letters of contemporaries,
see V. A. Eyles, “Introduction,” in Contributions to
the History of Geology, V (1970), xi-xxiii.
Playfair's Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the
Earth (Edinburgh, 1802), repr. in The Works of John Playfair,
I (Edinburgh, 1822), 1-514, facs. repr. of 1802 ed.
(Urbana, 1956), with intro. by G. W. White, is widely used
as a source of Hutton's views, but does not always present
them with complete accuracy. Its publication stimulated
John Murray of Edinburgh, lecturer in chemistry and
supporter of Wernerian geology, to publish anonymously
A Comparative View of the Huttonian and Neptunian Systems
of Geology (Edinburgh, 1802). The Illustrations and
Comparative View, translated into French and annotated
by the translator, C. A. Basset, were published in one
volume, Explication de Playfair sur la Théorie par Hutton,
et examen comparatif des systèmes géologiques ... par
M. Murray (Paris, 1815).
W. H. Fitton, “A Review of Mr Lyell's ‘Elements of
Geology’; With Observations on the Progress of the Huttonian
Theory of the Earth,” in Edinburgh Review,69
(1839), 406-466, includes a detailed discussion of the value
of Hutton's theory in relation to contemporary geological
knowledge. Fitton shows that some prominent geologists
of the period, particularly in France, were either unaware
of Hutton's work, or, if familiar with it, failed to acknowledge
Hutton's priority when putting forward their own
conclusions.
The following modern commentaries on various aspects
of Hutton's work, principally his geology, may be consulted:
“James Hutton 1726-1797, Commemoration of the
150th Anniversary of His Death,” in Proceedings of the
Royal Society of Edinburgh,63B (1950), 351-402, contains
five articles on Hutton's life and work: M. Macgregor,
“Life and Times of James Hutton”; E. B. Bailey, “James
Hutton, Founder of Modern Geology”; G. W. Tyrrell,
“Hutton on Arran”; V. A. Eyles, “Note on the Original
Publication of Hutton's Theory of the Earth and the Subsequent
Forms in Which It Was Issued”; and S. I. Tomkeieff,
“James Hutton and the Philosophy of Geology,” repr.
from Transactions of the Edinburgh Geological Society,14
(1948), 253-276. Tomkeieff notes that G. H. Toulmin, in
The Antiquity and Duration of the World (London, 1780),
expressed views in some respects similar to those in Hutton's
Theory of the Earth. References to Toulmin and Hutton
were also made by D. B. McIntyre, “James Hutton and
the Philosophy of Geology,” in C. C. Albritton, ed., The
Fabric of Geology (Reading, Mass., 1963), 1-11; and G. L.
Davies, “George Hoggart Toulmin and the Huttonian
Theory of the Earth,” in Bulletin of the Geological Society
of America,78 (1967), 121-124.
A useful source book and guide to Hutton's geological
thought is E. B. Bailey, James Hutton--the Founder of
Modern Geology (Amsterdam-London-New York, 1967),
which contains a summary of each chapter of Theory of
the Earth, a well-informed commentary on Hutton's ideas,
and a less detailed discussion of his other works, particularly
“Principles of Agriculture.”
R. H. Dott, Jr., “James Hutton and the Concept of a
Dynamic Earth,” in C. J. Schneer, ed., Toward a History
of Geology (Cambridge, Mass.-London, 1969), 122-141,
provides a short summary and commentary on Hutton's
contributions to geology.
Anthologies of Hutton's more important geological
observations and conclusions, with commentaries, are
J. Challinor, “The Early Progress of British Geology--III.
From Hutton to Playfair, 1788-1802,” in Annals of
Science,10 (1954), 107-148; and D. A. Bassett, “James
Hutton,
the Founder of Modern Geology: An Anthology,” in
Geology: The Journal of the Association of Teachers of
Geology,2 (1970), 55-76. S. I. Tomkeieff,
“Unconformity--an
Historical Study,” in Proceedings of the Geologists'
Association,73 (1962), 383-401, discusses Hutton's use of
unconformities as evidence for his geological theory.
Hutton's contributions to geomorphology are discussed
in E. B. Bailey, “The Interpretation of Scottish Scenery,”
in Scottish Geographical Magazine,50 (1934), 301-330;
R. J. Chorley, A. J. Dunn, and R. P. Beckinsale, The
History of the Study of Land Forms (London-New York,
1964); G. L. Davies, “The Eighteenth Century Denudation
Dilemma and the Huttonian Theory of the Earth,” in
Annals of Science,22 (1966), 129-138; and “The
Huttonian
Earth-Machine,” in The Earth in Decay, a History of
British Geomorphology 1578 to 1878 (London, 1969), ch. 6.
R. Hooykaas, Natural Law and Divine Miracle (Leiden,
1959; 2nd ed., 1963), discusses Hutton's geological theory
in relation to the general theory of uniformitarianism. See
also his paper “James Hutton und die Ewigkeit der Welt,”
in Gesnerus,23 (1966), 55-66.
V. A. Eyles, “A Bibliographical Note on the Earliest
Printed Version of James Hutton's Theory of the Earth,
its Form and Date of Publication,” in Journal of the Society
for the Bibliography of Natural History,3 (1955), 105-108,
gives the evidence establishing the authorship and date of
publication of the Abstract, which was issued anonymously
and undated.
The following commentaries refer to Hutton's work in
