Sinh học - Chapter 22: Descent with modification: a darwinian view of life

In contrast to Cuvier’s catastrophism, James Hutton, a Scottish geologist, proposed that the diversity of landforms (e.g., canyons) could be explained by mechanisms currently operating. Hutton proposed a theory of gradualism, that profound change results from slow, continuous processes. Later, Charles Lyell proposed a theory of uniformitarianism, that geological processes had not changed throughout Earth’s history.