who is responsible for introducing the principle of uniformitarianism
James Hutton geologist James Hutton William Whewell
title: Uniformitarianism text: geologists now, however, no longer hold to a strict theory of gradualism. Coined by William Whewell, the word was proposed in contrast to catastrophism by British naturalists in the late 18th century, starting with the work of the geologist James Hutton in his many books including "Theory of the Earth". Hutton's work was later refined by scientist John Playfair and popularised by geologist Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology" in 1830. Today, Earth's history is considered to have been a slow, gradual process, punctuated by occasional natural catastrophic events. The earlier conceptions likely had little influence on 18th-century European geological explanations title: Uniformitarianism text: areas. In Britain, geologists adapted this idea into "diluvial theory" which proposed repeated worldwide annihilation and creation of new fixed species adapted to a changed environment, initially identifying the most recent catastrophe as the biblical flood. From 1830 to 1833 Charles Lyell's multi-volume "Principles of Geology" was published. The work's subtitle was "An attempt to explain the former changes of the Earth's surface by reference to causes now in operation". He drew his explanations from field studies conducted directly before he went to work on the founding geology text, and developed Hutton's idea that the earth was shaped entirely by title: Uniformitarianism text: slow-moving forces still in operation today, acting over a very long period of time. The terms "uniformitarianism" for this idea, and "catastrophism" for the opposing viewpoint, were coined by William Whewell in a review of Lyell's book. "Principles of Geology" was the most influential geological work in the middle of the 19th century. Geoscientists support diverse systems of Earth history, the nature of which rest on a certain mixture of views about process, control, rate, and state which are preferred. Because geologists and geomorphologists tend to adopt opposite views over process, rate and state in the inorganic world, there are title: James Hutton text: James Hutton James Hutton (; 3 June 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalist. He originated the theory of uniformitarianism—a fundamental principle of geology—that explains the features of the Earth's crust by means of natural processes over geologic time. Hutton's work established geology as a science, and as a result he is referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology". Through observation and carefully reasoned geological arguments, Hutton came to believe that the Earth was perpetually being formed; he recognised that the history of Earth could be determined by understanding how title: Uniformitarianism text: Uniformitarianism Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity, refers to the invariance in the principles underpinning science, such as the constancy of causality, or causation, throughout time, but it has also been used to describe invariance of physical laws through time and space. Though an unprovable postulate that cannot be verified using the scientific method, uniformitarianism has been a key first principle of virtually all fields of science. In geology, uniformitarianism has included the gradualistic concept that "the present is the key to the past" (that events occur at the same rate now as they have always done); many