File:Sir_Henry_Raeburn_-_James_Hutton,_1726_-_1797._Geologist_-_PG_2686_-_National_Galleries_of_Scotland.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
James Hutton
Sign in to saveAlso known as The Father of Modern Geology
Scottish geologist, physician, chemical manufacturer, naturalist, and experimental agriculturalist; (1726-1797)
OverviewAI-generated
James Hutton was a male geologist, meteorologist, farmer, and industrialist born in Edinburgh in 1726. A citizen of the Kingdom of Great Britain, he was educated at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Paris, and Leiden University. He studied under Colin MacLaurin and Guillaume-François Rouelle and was influenced by John Walker. Hutton was a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and resided in London, Norfolk, and Edinburgh.
He died in Edinburgh in 1797 from natural causes. His fields of work included geology, agriculture, and meteorology. Hutton wrote in English and is described by sources such as the Nordisk familjebok and the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary. His notable works include *Theory of the Earth*, *Considerations on the nature, quality, and distinctions, of coal and culm*, and *Abstract of a dissertation ... concerning the system of the earth, its duration and stability*.
Synthesized by Vinony from 27 facts across 2 sources: Wikidata, Open Library. Generated from structured data (not the Wikipedia text) and checked against those facts — may still contain errors.
Person · Open Library
- Born
- 1726
- Died
- 1797
- Works
- 31
via Open Library + Wikidata
Wikidata facts
- Instance of
- human
- Given name
- James
- Family name
- Hutton
- Gender
- male
- Citizenship
- Kingdom of Great Britain
- Place of birth
- Edinburgh
- Place of death
- Edinburgh
- Occupation
- physician
- Educated at
- University of Edinburgh
- Languages spoken
- English language
- Native language
- English language
- Doctoral advisor
- Colin MacLaurin
- Student of
- Guillaume-François Rouelle
- Field of work
- meteorology
- Image
- Hutton James portrait Raeburn.jpg
- Residence
- Edinburgh
Show 13 more facts
- Commons category
- James Hutton
- date of birth
- 1726-06-03
- date of death
- 1797-03-26
- described by source
- Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition
- Commons gallery
- James Hutton
- manner of death
- natural causes
- member of
- Royal Society of Edinburgh
- writing language
- English language
- influenced by
- John Walker
- name in native language
- James Hutton
- relative
- Isaac Bayley Balfour
- maintained by WikiProject
- WikiProject Mathematics
- cause of death
- bladder cancer
Sources (7)
via Wikidata · CC0
~27 min read
Encyclopedic overview
James Hutton ( /ˈhʌtən/; 3 June O.S. 1726 – 26 March 1797) was a Scottish geologist, agriculturalist, chemical manufacturer, naturalist and physician. Often referred to as the "Father of Modern Geology," he played a key role in establishing geology as a modern science.
Hutton advanced the idea that the physical world's remote history can be inferred from evidence in present-day rocks. Through his study of features in the landscape and coastlines of his native Scottish Lowlands, such as Salisbury Crags or Siccar Point, he developed the theory that geological features could not be static but underwent continuing transformation over indefinitely long periods of time. From this he argued, in agreement with many other early geologists, that the Earth could not be young. He was one of the earliest proponents of what in the 1830s became known as uniformitarianism, the science which explains features of the Earth's crust as the outcome of continuing natural processes over the long geologic time scale. Hutton also put forward a thesis for a 'system of the habitable Earth' proposed as a deistic mechanism designed to keep the world eternally suitable for humans, an early attempt to formulate what today might be called one kind of anthropic principle.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “James Hutton” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.
Gallery (12)
On the map
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