Charles Lyell Publishes the Principles of Geology (1830-33), in Which He Proposes the Actual Age of Earth to Be Several Hundred Million Years
Overview
Until relatively recently most people assumed that Earth was relatively young. Charles Lyell, in his work The Principles of Geology, was the first to be taken seriously when proposing an ancient Earth. This, in turn, opened the way for future scientific work, including the entire structure of modern geology, the theory of evolution, and concepts of "deep time" in many branches of science.
Background
Throughout most of human history, people assumed that Earth and all its inhabitants were recently created. In the Western world, the Bible was thought to represent the literal truth about Earth's creation, leading most to conclude that Earth was around 6,000 years old. The concept of an older Earth was not unknown in scientific circles at the beginning of the nineteenth century; Scottish geologist James Hutton had earlier proposed an ancient Earth, but one that was fundamentally different from what we recognize today. Hutton's vision of Earth was of an endless cycle of sediments from the land filling the oceans, turning to rock, and uplifting to form new continents, which then eroded to start the cycle again.
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