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

    nothing on the subject until late in his career. A visitor to his apartment in 1772 recorded that “his study is so full of fossils and chemical apparatus that there is hardly room to sit down.”

Hutton was by temperament both sociable and hospitable and he entered fully into the intellectual and social life of the city. Joseph Black became his most intimate friend. Others of about his own age with whom he associated closely were Adam Smith, James Lind (1736-1812), Adam Ferguson, James Burnett (Lord Monboddo), John Hope, and John Walker. Through Black he became a friend of James Watt, in whose work he took much interest. About 1781 he first met Playfair,3 and later he befriended Sir James Hall, who attained distinction as a geologist and chemist.

In 1774 Hutton made another tour into England and Wales. He visited Birmingham and with Watt examined the salt mines in Cheshire. In an unpublished letter to George Clerk he reported that he had been studying both geology and agricultural practice during this tour; and he implied that he was now familiar with the geology of England, with the exception of Cornwall. He later obtained a report on the geology of Cornwall from Watt's son, Gregory. During Hutton's tour the elder Watt probably introduced him to some members of the Birmingham discussion group later known as the Lunar Society, for he afterward corresponded with Erasmus Darwin and Matthew Boulton.

In 1777 Hutton published in Edinburgh a small pamphlet entitled Considerations on the Nature, Quality, and Distinctions of Coal and Culm. Its purpose, commercial rather than geological, was to establish the claim that the low-grade stony coal (culm) then exported from Edinburgh for lime burning should qualify for a lower rate of duty. This pamphlet, and Hutton's association with the Forth and Clyde canal, suggest that the practical value of his geological knowledge was already recognized.

When the Royal Society of Edinburgh was founded in 1783, Hutton became one of its most active supporters, believing that the establishment of the Society was important for the progress of science. His active interest in geology continued and from 1785 to 1788 he visited several parts of Scotland, the Isle of Man, and England to extend his knowledge. In 1788 Hutton was elected foreign member of the French Royal Society of Agriculture. It is possibly significant that the president of the society at that time was Nicholas Desmarest.

After 1788, so far as is known, Hutton made no more field excursions; and from 1791 he was subject to recurrent illness.4 He spent these years preparing his lesser known works on chemistry, physics, and philosophy for publication. In 1795 he published the definitive two-volume edition of his Theory of the Earth. His friends had previously urged him to publish this work, and he was finally prompted to do so to counter Richard Kirwan's strong criticism of the theory.5 Finally, Hutton began the preparation of another work, the “Principles of Agriculture,” but his death prevented its publication.

The variety of subjects that Hutton studied intensively, and his general way of life, indicate that he was a man interested in knowledge for its own sake, without thought of personal advancement, and his works show an overriding intent to fit all the subjects he discussed into the framework of his deistic philosophy.

The illness that led to Hutton's death was stated by Black to have been caused by stones in the bladder. The first attack in 1791 was cured by a severe operation, but a recurrence set in during 1794. Thereafter he was confined to his house, although he remained cheerful, mentally alert, and able to read and write between bouts of severe pain.

Hutton never married; he was survived by one unmarried sister, Isabella, and a natural son, James, probably born about 1747, when Hutton was still a student. His son, employed for many years in the General Post Office in London, married and raised a family. Hutton kept in contact with him, providing money when he was in need. After Hutton died, Isabella Hutton presented his geological specimens to Black, who, in turn, gave them to the Royal Society of Edinburgh, on conditions which should have ensured that they would be properly cataloged and preserved. A few years later they were transferred to the university museum, then curated by Robert Jameson. They were exhibited for a time, but ultimately disappeared and no trace of them has since been found.

Geology.

Hutton's most important contribution to science was his theory of the earth, first announced in 1785. Hutton had then been actively interested in geology for fully thirty years. It is known that he had completed the theory in outline some years earlier, and according to Black, writing in 1787,6 Hutton had formed its principal parts more than twenty years before. In essence the theory was simple, yet it was of such fundamental importance that Hutton has been called the founder of modern geology. Much has been written about the scientific and intellectual background in eighteenth-century Europe at the time Hutton formed his theory, but its novelty can only be appreciated when related to the existing state of geological knowledge.