James Hutton

James Hutton (born June 3, 1726, Edinburgh, Scotland—died March 26, 1797, Edinburgh) was a Scottish geologist, chemist, naturalist, and originator of one of the fundamental principles of geology—uniformitarianism, which explains the features of the Earth’s crust by means of natural processes over geologic time. Hutton was the son of a merchant and city officeholder. Though Hutton’s father died when his son was quite young, Hutton managed an education in the local grammar school and at...