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Article ID: CBB001500026

Darwin and the Geological Controversies over the Steady-State Worldview in the 1830s (2014)

Endeavour: Review of the Progress of Science
Volume: 38, no.3-4
Issue: 3 - 4
Pages: 190-196

DOI: 10.1016/j.endeavour.2014.10.005

Publication Date: 2014
Edition Details: Part of the Special issue on Charles Darwin and Scientific Revolutions.
Language: English

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Geology Controversies and disputes Revolutions in science Steady state theory Philosophy of science 19th century 17th century Lyell, Charles Darwin, Charles Robert

In the first part of this paper, I will show that although Darwin's geological works only covered the first years of his scientific career, these played a non-negligible role in the earth sciences of the mid-nineteenth century. His intellectual proximity with Charles Lyell often made him his disciple. This is indeed the case with respect to debates over `gradual' soil movements and `catastrophic' soil movements, and for `steady-state' cycles as opposed to `directionalistic' ones. This being said, it is also true that in South America Darwin saw geological processes which were incompatible with Lyell's explanations. It must therefore be recognized that Darwin held a middle-of-the-road position between uniformitarianism (Lyell) and catastrophism (Humbolt and von Buch), at least as far as some geological questions were concerned. In the second part of the paper, debates on geological issues during Darwin's active years will be put in the methodological context of the Scientific Revolution of the seventeenth century.

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Article Delisle, Richard G. (2014) Can a Revolution Hide Another One? Charles Darwin and the Scientific Revolution. Endeavour: Review of the Progress of Science (pp. 157-158). unapi

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