The Man Who Found Time

April 7, 2003
In this engaging account of scientific discovery, Repcheck (an acquiring editor at Norton) aims to elevate the little-known Scottish geologist James Hutton (1726–1797) into the lofty company of Copernicus, Galileo and Darwin, as one who wrested modern science from the "straight jacket of religious orthodoxy." Hutton, claims Repcheck, was the first to propose that the earth was shaped not by a cataclysmic Great Flood, but rather by "the inexorable forces of wind and rain, tides and storms, volcanoes and earthquakes" over a far longer period than the 6,000 years biblical scholars said was the planet's age. Repcheck frames his narrative around Hutton's theory, weaving together the many historical threads that led to this paradigm shift in the conception of geological history. There aren't many popular histories of science that can hop from a thousand years of Church doctrine about the age of the earth to the story of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Scottish rebellion of 1745 without missing a beat, but Repcheck's comfortable style and enthusiasm for his subject permeate his book. He does a fine job of laying out Hutton's theory in the context of the Scottish Enlightenment as well as its consequences for later thinkers (most notably Darwin). Repcheck's account should appeal to anyone who's curious about intellectual history, geologist or not. (June)FYI:We'll watch as Repcheck dukes it out with Alan Cutler, who claims, in his book
The Seashell on the Mountaintop (see p. 59), that his subject, Nicolaus Steno, discovered the science of geology and challenged the 6,000-year-old age of the earth.

Starred review from May 15, 2003
Part biography and part science history, this first book by an acquiring editor at Norton strives to place an obscure Scottish gentleman farmer beside Copernicus, Galileo, and Darwin as the figures most responsible for separating science from the influence of orthodox religion. Considered the father of modern geology, James Hutton stunned the leading scientists of his time (the 18th-century Scottish Enlightenment) by openly declaring Earth's age as inestimably older than the long-accepted biblical date of October 23, 4004 B.C.E. More important, perhaps, his work so influenced Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin that, as Repcheck argues, Hutton paved the way for subsequent theories of evolution. Repcheck, a science book editor with a social history background, details the social milieu of Hutton's time, blending science with the social factors contributing to Hutton's personality and discoveries. Concentrating on the era in which Hutton lived, he finds a niche among broader works like Martin Gorst's Measuring Eternity, which examines the concept of time from the ancient era to the atomic age, and more technical ones, such as Stephen Jay Gould's Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle, which focuses on the geology. Engaging and suspenseful, Repcheck's excellent biography is highly recommended for most public libraries as the most recent and most detailed account of Hutton's life and science.-Andy Wickens, King Cty. Lib. Syst., WA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2003
Modern geology began with James Hutton, who looked to the ground rather than holy writ for clues about the age of our planet. He flourished during the Scottish enlightenment, which also saw the rise of his friends David Hume and Adam Smith; at that time, biblical scholarship's estimate of a 6,000-year-old Earth was widely accepted. How this number was derived-- it made sense even to Isaac Newton--is part of the interesting background material in this biography of Hutton, which also digresses into the politics of Hutton's Edinburgh in 1745, when Bonnie Prince Charlie arrived in town to raise the Stuart standard. Not much is known about Hutton, which is why Repcheck elaborates on these settings, for just a few letters and geological writings, as well as an admirer's memoir, exist to indicate what manner of man he was. Repcheck makes the most of the material, incorporating into Hutton's haunts and jaunts in Scotland the then-orthodox theories of Noah's flood, which he found wanting. Fluidly informative, Repcheck will easily snare readers of popular science.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)