Topic
Repcheck, Jack. The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity
Instructions
Immerse yourself in the historical legacy of any or one or all of these scientists–Charles Darwin, Nicolaus Steno, James Hutton, Neil Shubin, Jared Diamond. Obtain any or all of the books listed below, and summarize the essence of each chapter in the book by using a reading evaluation form.
Shubin, Neil. 2009. Your Inner Fish: A Journey Into the 3.5-Billion-Year History of the Human Body. Vintage Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. 226 pp. ISBN: 978-0-307-27745-9.
Diamond, Jared. 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies. WWW. Norton and Co., New York. 494 pp. ISBN 0-393-31755-2
Darwin, Charles. 1909. The Voyage of the Beagle. Reprinted by Barnes and Noble Library of Essential Reading, 2004, with introduction by Catherine A. Heinze. New York. 478 pp. ISBN-10: 0-7607-5496-9.
Cutler, Alan. 2003. The Seashell on the Mountaintop: A Story of Science, Sainthood, and the Humble Genius who Discovered a New History of the Earth. Published by Dutton, a member of Penguin Group, NY, USA. 228 pp.
Repcheck, Jack. 2009. The Man Who Found Time: James Hutton and the Discovery of the Earth’s Antiquity. Published by Basic Books, a member of the Perseus Books Group, NY, USA. 247 pp.ISBN 978-0-465-01337-1.
Sagan, Carl. 1996. The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark. Ballantine Books, NY, USA. 457 p. NY Times Bestseller. ISBN
0-345-40946-9
Answer preview
Chapter 1- Looking so far into The Abyss of Time
Based on your reading, summarize below why you think the article was written; and list major ideas that it documents
In this chapter, the author presents a summary of how an intellectual revolution in Europe made people all over the world begin to question the validity of the Biblical account of creation. The men who risked their lives to publish their doubts about the Biblical story of creation were at first closely aligned to the Catholic Church. Nicholas Copernicus was actually a Prussian priest who believed that the sun, rather than the earth, was the center of the universe. In stating this, he effectively took man away from being the center of divine inspiration to create the world. Other daring scholars like Galileo Galilei, the Scottish philosopher James Hutton, Sir Isaac Newton, and Charles Darwin later added their voices in support of scientific explanations of the earth’s creation.
How well are the assertions presented in the article supported by evidence/facts? List some facts/evidence that you found interesting.
The assertions of the author are supported by facts. He provides examples of how the scientists put forth their explanations on why the Biblical account of the world being built 6000 years ago is inaccurate. He also presents the findings of Biblical scholars like St. Bede, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Augustine that the earth is only 6000 years old.
Word count: 3222