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Quote by James Hutton

“As there is not in human observation proper means for measuring the waste of land upon the globe, it is hence inferred, that we cannot estimate the duration of what we see at present, nor calculate the period at which it had begun; so that, with respect to human observation, this world has neither a beginning nor an end.”

Author

James Hutton

James Hutton, born on June 3, 1726 in Scotland, and died on March 26, 1797, was an outstanding geologist. He is considered one of the founders of modern geology, proposing many important concepts in geology, such as the concept of crustal movement and the significance of fossil records. more

“Astronomy may be revolutionized more than any other field of science by observations from above the atmosphere. Study of the planets, the Sun, the stars, and the rarified matter in space should all be profoundly influenced by measurements from balloons, rockets, probes and satellites. ... In a new adventure of discovery no one can foretell what will be found, and it is probably safe to predict that the most important new discovery that will be made with flying telescopes will be quite unexpected and unforeseen.”

“During the last two centuries and a half, physical knowledge has been gradually made to rest upon a basis which it had not before. It has become mathematical. The question now is, not whether this or that hypothesis is better or worse to the pure thought, but whether it accords with observed phenomena in those consequences which can be shown necessarily to follow from it, if it be true”

Ifs Has Beens Made Two Lasts Science Half Knowledge Century Pure Consequence Bases Mathematics Being True Observation Mathematical Hypothesis Accord

Book:A Budget of Paradoxes Reprinted, with the Author's Additions, from the Athenaeum Augustus De Morgan

Source: A Budget of Paradoxes Reprinted, with the Author's Additions, from the Athenaeum Augustus De Morgan

“Error, never can be consistent, nor can truth fail of having support from the accurate examination of every circumstance.”

Truth Science Support Failing Circumstances Errors Observation Consistent Accurate Examination

Book:Theory of the earth; or an investigation of the laws observable in the composition, dissolution and restoration of land upon the globe. (From. the Trans., Roy. soc. of Edinb.).

Source: Theory of the earth; or an investigation of the laws observable in the composition, dissolution and restoration of land upon the globe. (From. the Trans., Roy. soc. of Edinb.).

“Experiments in geology are far more difficult than in physics and chemistry because of the greater size of the objects, commonly outside our laboratories, up to the earth itself, and also because of the fact that the geologic time scale exceeds the human time scale by a million and more times. This difference in time allows only direct observations of the actual geologic processes, the mind having to imagine what could possibly have happened in the past.”