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Ages in Chaos book cover
Ages in Chaos
James Hutton and the Discovery of Deep Time
2004
First Published
3.94
Average Rating
256
Number of Pages
In the eighteenth century, the received wisdom, based on biblical calculations, was that the Earth was just six thousand years old. James Hutton, a gentleman with a passion for rocks, knew that could not be the case. Looking at the irregular strata of the Earth he deduced that a much longer span of time would be required for the landscape he saw to have evolved. In the turbulent world of Enlightenment Scotland, he set out to prove it. Hutton's entourage in Edinburgh comprised the leading thinkers of the age, including Erasmus Darwin, Adam Smith, James Watt, David Hume, and Joseph Black. But his geological theories would ignite decades of profound religious debate. Ultimately, Hutton's discovery of deep time changed our view of the universe forever.
Avg Rating
3.94
Number of Ratings
49
5 STARS
24%
4 STARS
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3 STARS
22%
2 STARS
4%
1 STARS
0%
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Author

Stephen Baxter
Stephen Baxter
Author · 71 books
Stephen Baxter is a trained engineer with degrees from Cambridge (mathematics) and Southampton Universities (doctorate in aeroengineering research). Baxter is the winner of the British Science Fiction Award and the Locus Award, as well as being a nominee for an Arthur C. Clarke Award, most recently for Manifold: Time. His novel Voyage won the Sidewise Award for Best Alternate History Novel of the Year; he also won the John W. Campbell Award and the Philip K. Dick Award for his novel The Time Ships. He is currently working on his next novel, a collaboration with Sir Arthur C. Clarke. Mr. Baxter lives in Prestwood, England.
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