41-1 Beyond Deep Time: The Early 19th Century Recognition of Planetary, Biotic, and Cosmic Evolution

Session: Philosophy of Extreme Events and Landscape Evolution on Earth and Other Planets: Thinking Geologically in the Spirit of Victor Baker

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Three seminal discoveries in the history of science have served to answer the key questions of where we are, when we are, and who we are—Deep Space (an enormous universe), Deep Time (a world of exceptional antiquity), and Evolution (a linking of all life).  Although defying precise dating, the effective recognition of Deep Space (early 1600s) and Deep Time (late 1700s) are notably separated by nearly two centuries, and a functioning theory for life’s common ancestry (i.e., Darwin and Wallace, mid 1800s) came along another half century after the notion of Deep Time.

In marked contrast, the awareness that our planet, its cargo of life, and the stars and galaxies themselves are not just simply old but are actually in a state of dynamic evolution and emergent change, all seems to have occurred within a surprisingly short period, a few decades in the early 19^th century.

It was in the early 1800s, and largely under the influence of individuals like Buffon, Cuvier, Smith, and Lyell, that geologists established not only an exceptionally ancient earth, but one that had a uniquely different past and future, no longer static and unchanging. Concurrently, William and Caroline Herschel elucidated and published theories proposing that stars, nebulae, and galaxies experience birth to death life cycles. And this is also when the early evolutionists, such as J.B. Lamarck and R. Chambers established a clear vision of organismic change through time.

Not coincidentally, this was a time when European society began to put high value on progress and emergent change.  The pulse of recent rebellions demanded a new approach to human rights; it was the beginning of enormous technological strides in machinery and manufacturing, and it embodied the apogee of Enlightenment Culture that had encouraged a secular and evolving approach to art, music, and literature. 

The nearly simultaneous and cross-disciplinary scientific insights, involving mutability, evolution, and dynamic change are probably linked to the societal attitudes of the time.  Recognizing this juxtaposition of scientific innovation and prevailing culture exemplifies a modern approach to the historiography of geology and science in general.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

doi: 10.1130/abs/2025AM-4587

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