An Introduction to In the Footsteps of Hutton

2026 marks the tercentenary of the birth of James Hutton, the ‘Founder of Modern Geology’. Hutton’s path to geology and status as the person who first recognised the significance of unconformities, proved the intrusive nature of granite, and introduced the rock cycle, uniformitarianism and deep time was circuitous. After graduating in Medicine but turned his attention to chemistry and then to improving farm practices, introducing methods learnt through travels in England, France and Holland. His key idea was that the Earth is a machine in a continuous state of decay and renewal. This formed the basis for the rock cycle concept and his insight that no primordial rock could be observed. Although he began developing these ideas in 1764 it was not until 1785 that he first presented them, and only in 1795 did he publish the first volumes of his Theory of the Earth with Proofs and Illustrations. The cornerstones of this: sedimentation, consolidation of sediments, heat from within the Earth, melting or ‘fusion’, and the need for immense forces to deform rocks and produce mountains, are explored in this Volume in the light of current developments in the science of which Hutton, rightly, is considered the Founder.