Uniformitarianism
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Uniformitarianism, also known as the Doctrine of Uniformity or the Uniformitarian Principle, is the assumption that the same natural laws and processes that operate in our present-day scientific obser
Hutton's Unconformity at Jedburgh. Above: John Clerk of Eldin's 1787 illustration. Below: 2003 photograph.
Cliff at the east of Siccar Point in Berwickshire, showing the gently tilting red sandstone layers above vertically tilted greywacke rocks
Charles Lyell at the British Association meeting in Glasgow 1840
Catastrophism
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In geology, catastrophism is the theory that the Earth has largely been shaped by sudden, short-lived, violent events, possibly worldwide in scope. This contrasts with uniformitarianism, according to
Uniformitarianism
…though many modern geologists no longer hold to a strict gradualism. Coined by William Whewell, uniformitarianism was originally 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…
The discoveries of different layers of fossils, such as those containing Palaeotherium and Anoplotherium (pictured), by Georges Cuvier led him to believe that series of catastrophic events wiped out worlds before the modern one.