James Hutton

“The result, therefore, of our present enquiry is, that we find no vestige of a beginning,—no prospect of an end.”

“We are now to take a general view of the globe, examining the materials of which it is composed, and the manner in which these are disposed.”

“The solid parts of the present land appear in general, to have been composed of the productions of the sea, and of other materials similar to those now found upon the shores.”

“The present is the key to the past.”

“The past history of our globe must be explained by what can be seen to be happening now.”

“For having, in the natural history of this earth, seen a succession of worlds, we may from this conclude that there is a system in nature.”