Editorial Type:
Article Category: Research Article
| Online Publication Date: 05 Nov 2007
Metaphors of Nature in James Hutton's Theory of the Earth With Proofs and Illustrations
Metaphors of Nature in James Hutton's Theory of the Earth With Proofs and Illustrations
Page Range: 26 – 45
James Hutton (1726-1797) is credited with the discovery of the rock cycle and the great age of the Earth. He used eight metaphors for the whole of Nature in Theory of the Earth with Proofs and Illustrations (1795): the Great, Flux of Nature, the Macrocosmic-Microcosmic analogy, Nature as a Machine, the Book of Nature, Nature as a Fabric, Mother Nature, the Creation, and the Globe of the Planet. These metaphors were consistent with the dynamic character of the rock cycle. Hutton seems to have played a major role in developing the metaphor of the planet as an active ecological and geophysical agent. These metaphors are all in keeping with his belief in the goodness of God and the continuous habitability of the Earth. He did not use the metaphors of the Great Chain of Being or the Music of the Spheres, two metaphors for Nature which were very common in his day. These two metaphors are static images of Nature that are out of keeping with the feelings behind the discovery of the rock cycle.
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