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...