Earth Sciences History Group (A Specialist Group of the Geological Society of Australia Inc.) Email Bulletin No. 63 04 June 2026 I apologize for the hiatus in communication from the ESHG and thank you to those who have nevertheless maintained their subscription to the group. I will endeavour to make these bulletins more regular. One impetus for this Bulletin was the realisation that this week, we have marked the 300th birthday of the ‘Father of Geology’ James Hutton (see below). Also, the GSA Governing Council and The Association Specialists (TAS), who provide the secretariat services, have overcome the problems with the membership database and website. Therefore, membership renewal is now possible so this is a reminder to tick the box for membership of ESHG when you renew. The rest of the website is still very much a work in progress and uploading of the archives of bulletins and newsletters as well as the biographies of pioneering Australian Earth scientists is yet to be achieved.
Tercentenary of the birth of James Hutton James Hutton 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 was born in Edinburgh on 3 June 1726, as one of five children of Sarah Balfour and William Hutton, a merchant who was Edinburgh City Treasurer. Hutton's father died in 1729, when he was three. He was educated at the High School of Edinburgh where he was particularly interested in mathematics and chemistry, and then when he was 14, he attended the University of Edinburgh studying the classics and medicine. At the age of 18, he became a physician's assistant. After a two-year stay in Paris studying chemistry and anatomy, he arrived in Leiden in 1749, where he obtained his doctorate in medicine from Leiden University. He returned to Edinburgh in mid-1750 and resumed chemical experiments with close friend, John Davies. Their work on production of sal ammoniac from soot led to their partnership in a profitable chemical works, manufacturing the chemical which was used in dyeing, metalworking and in smelling salts and which had been available only from natural sources imported from Egypt. Hutton inherited from his father the Berwickshire farms of Slighhouses, a lowland farm which had been in the family since 1713, and the hill farm of Nether Monynut. In the early 1750s he moved to Slighhouses and set about making improvements, introducing farming practices from other parts of Britain and experimenting with plant and animal husbandry. This developed his interest in meteorology and geology. In a 1753 letter he wrote that he had "become very fond of studying the surface of the earth and was looking with anxious curiosity into every pit or ditch or bed of a river that fell in his way". Clearing and draining his farm provided ample opportunities. His theoretical ideas began to come together in 1760, and in 1764 he went on a geological tour of the north of Scotland. 1
In 1768, he returned to Edinburgh, letting his farms to tenants and had a house built at St John's Hill, Edinburgh, overlooking Salisbury Crags. Hutton was an influential participant in the Scottish Enlightenment and associated with numerous intellectuals including mathematician John Playfair, philosopher David Hume and economist Adam Smith. He held no position at the University of Edinburgh and communicated his scientific findings through the Royal Society of Edinburgh of which he was a joint founder.
Portrait of James Hutton by Henry Raeburn, 1776 Hutton developed several hypotheses to explain the rock formations he saw around him but was in no haste to publish his theory. However, eventually his Theory of the Earth; or an Investigation of the Laws observable in the Composition, Dissolution, and Restoration of Land upon the Globe was read to meetings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in two parts in1785. Hutton subsequently read an abstract of his dissertation Concerning the System of the Earth, its Duration and Stability to a Society meeting and had it printed and circulated privately. The full account of his theory as read in those meetings did not appear in print until 1788 and appeared in Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He put forward the view that "from what has actually been, we have data for concluding with regard to that which is to happen thereafter." Charles Lyell rephrased this in the 1830s as "the present is the key to the past". Hutton's 1788 paper concluded, "The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning, –no prospect of an end. Meanwhile Hutton continued fieldwork to seek out evidence for his theories. In the summer of 1785 at Glen Tilt and other sites in the Cairngorm mountains in the Scottish Highlands, Hutton found granite penetrating schists, in a way which indicated that the granite had been molten at the time. The exposures demonstrated to him that granite formed from the cooling of molten rock rather than it precipitating out of water as others at the time, the Neptunists, believed, and therefore the granite must be younger than the schists. He went on to find similar penetration of igneous rock through sedimentary rock in Edinburgh at Salisbury Crags, adjoining Arthur's Seat. He found other examples in Galloway in 1786, and on the Isle of Arran in 1787. The existence of angular unconformities had been noted by Nicolas Steno and by French geologists including Horace-Bénédict de Saussure, who interpreted them in terms of Neptunism as "primary formations". Hutton wanted to examine such formations himself to see the characteristics of the relationship between the rock layers. On the 1787 trip to the Isle of Arran he found his first example of 2
what is now known as Hutton's Unconformity but the limited view meant that the condition of the underlying strata was not clear enough for him. Later in 1787 he noted the unconformity near[Jedburgh where layers of greywacke in the lower layers of a cliff face were tilted almost vertically, and above an intervening layer of conglomerate lay horizontal layers of Old Red Sandstone. He later wrote of how he "rejoiced at my good fortune in stumbling upon an object so interesting in the natural history of the earth, and which I had been long looking for in vain." That year, he found the same sequence in Teviotdale. In the Spring of 1788, accompanied by John Playfair, professor of mathematics at the University of Edinburgh, he found more examples of this sequence along the Berwickshire coast. They then took a boat trip east along the coast with the geologist Sir James Hall and found the sequence in the cliff below St. Helens. Then just to the east at Siccar Point, they found what Hutton called "a beautiful picture of this junction washed bare by the sea". Playfair later commented about the experience, "the mind seemed to grow giddy by looking so far into the abyss of time". Continuing along the coast, they made more discoveries including sections of the vertical beds showing strong ripple marks which gave Hutton "great satisfaction" as a confirmation of his supposition that these beds had been laid horizontally in water. Hutton reasoned that there must have been innumerable cycles, each involving deposition on the seabed, uplift with tilting and erosion then undersea again for further layers to be deposited. On the belief that this was due to the same geological forces operating in the past as the very slow geological forces seen operating at the present day, the thicknesses of exposed rock layers implied to him enormous stretches of time.
Unconformity between Late Devonian Old Red Sandstone and steeply dipping Silurian strata at Siccar Point (photograph by Ian Withnall) Hutton published his theory in several volumes in 1794, consisting of the 1788 version of his theory (with slight additions) along with a lot of material drawn from shorter papers he already had to hand on various subjects such as the origin of granite. The whole was entitled An Investigation of the Principles of Knowledge and of the Progress of Reason, from Sense to Science and Philosophy. From 1791 he suffered extreme pain from stones in the bladder and gave up field work to concentrate on finishing his books. A dangerous and painful operation failed to resolve his illness. He died in Edinburgh on 26 March 1797. Hutton did not marry and had no legitimate children. Hutton’s book only went through one 500-copy print run. Its 2,138 pages and soporific, convoluted prose might have resulted in his ideas fading into obscurity and not given the recognition they deserved. He most likely would never have been given the accolade of the ‘Father of Geology’ were it not for the efforts of his close friend, John Playfair. After Hutton’s death, Playfair sifted through his papers and realised just how much material had been committed to manuscript but not published and decided that he would write a new book to putting together and summarising all Hutton’s notes and papers in a
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more concise manner. Playfair's book was released in 1802 as Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth and it was through this book that Hutton's theories reached a wide audience. One of those influenced by Hutton's work through Playfair’s book was Charles Lyell (1797-1875), the most influential earth scientist of the first half of the 19th century, He was to champion Uniformitarianism (the present is the key to the past) and his Principles of Geology through its multiple editions became the standard reference during the 19th century for any student wishing to understand the nature of the Earth. Siccar Point remains one of the most important geological sites in the world. This year, Scotland celebrates Hutton’s tercentenary, with the opening of the new Deep Time Trail improving access by visitors to the famous viewpoint overlooking the unconformity that inspired his groundbreaking ideas. Siccar-Point-LBGC-leaflet.pdf Hutton is also remembered in a small way in Australia. In 1846 on his 4th major expedition, Major Thomas Mitchell, Surveyor General of New South Wales, explored what is now inland central Queensland. Having exhausted the names of colonial dignitaries, he wrote that he “was now at a loss for names to the principal summits of the country. No more could be gathered from the natives, and I resolved to name the features, for which names were now requisite, after such individuals of our own race as had been most distinguished or zealous in the advancement of science, and the pursuit of human knowledge, men sufficiently well-known in the world to preclude all necessity for further explanation why their names were applied to a part of the world's geography, than that it was to do honour to Australia, as well as to them”. To the south of the Salvatore Rosa section of Carnarvon Gorge National Park, three prominent basalt plugs bear the names Mount Faraday, Mount Hutton, and close by, Mount Playfair.
INHIGEO News For those new members, ESHG, as well as being a Specialist Group of GSA, is affiliated with INHIGEO – International Commission on the History of Geological Sciences. The primary objective of INHIGEO involves promoting studies in the history of geological disciplines. In so doing, the Commission endeavours to stimulate and coordinate the activities of regional, national, and international organizations having shared purposes. The Commission also works to foster the publication of individual and collective works that illuminate the history of the geological sciences. The latest INHIGEO Circulars can be accessed on the INHIGEO webpage at https://inhigeo.org
Other items of interest on the INHIGEO website include the Annual record No 57 for 2025 Annual Record 57-2024 INHIGEO Anniversary series: a web series at ANNIVERSARIES – INHIGEO. These are short articles that focus on a particular event, person, theory or pivotal publication in Earth Sciences and related to a certain year. The most recent one is CAMPI PHLEGRAEI 1776: THE VOLCANOLOGICAL LEGACY OF SIR WILLIAM HAMILTON by Claudia Principe. Another of interest to metamorphic petrologists METAMORPHIC FACIES: THE BIRTH OF A CONCEPT by Alexis Plunder (France) and Gaston Godard (France) marking the 60th anniversary of the death of Berndt Eskola. Another recent article with Australian relevance is CHARLES GOULD, THE FIRST GOVERNMENT APPOINTED GEOLOGICAL SURVEYOR OF TASMANIA by Carol Bacon.
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Facebook Group Those of you who are on Facebook, and want a break from mindless scrolling, may be interested in joining the History of Geology Group. This public group is dedicated to the interactions of geology with society and the history of earth sciences, especially geology, and the naturalists and scientists that contributed and still contribute to our understanding of Earth. Everybody, from professional geologist to amateur to simply interested in the topic is welcome — as are contributions, if they follow some basic rules. All new posts are moderated, so there is a distinct lack of trolling by the Young Earth Creationist crowd.
Contributions for the ESHG Newsletter ESHG newsletters (as opposed to the eNews Bulletins circulated by email) are published when there are enough contributions to justify the cost of printing and postage. They are devoted to historical accounts of geoscientists and geoscientific investigations in Australasia, Articles for future editions are welcome and can be submitted to the Newsletter Editor, Mr John Draper at jdraper@hn.ozemail.com.au.
Australian Geology Hall of Fame The former ESHG webpages included short biographies of influential Australian geologists and hopefully will be reinstated now that GSA has a new website. I saved all the biographies before the old website was taken down However, biographies of many other influential Australian geoscientists were yet to be included and now would be a good time to add them A list of possible candidates is given below. Members are therefore welcome to submit short biographies (500-600 words plus a photograph or image and links or main references to more detailed information) of these or any others to the Earth Science History Group c/- eshg.gsa@gmail.com. Of course, we would also welcome more detailed biographies for inclusion in
forthcoming editions of the newsletter. • • • • • • • •
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Edward de Courcy Clarke Richard Daintree Samuel Benson Dickinson Norman Henry (Doc) Fisher Charles Gould John Walter Gregory Edwin Sherbon Hills Terence D Hills
ESHG Committee: Chair — Ian Withnall Secretary — Vacant Treasurer — Paul Blake Newsletter Editor — John Draper
Email address eshg.gsa@gmail.com
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Joseph Beete Jukes Clive Loftus-Hills Lyndon Charles Noakes Reginald Claude Sprigg William Harper Twelvetrees George Henry Frederick Ulrich Leonard Keith Ward Samuel Warren Carey