A Comparative View of Huttonian and Neptunian Geology

In A Comparative View of Huttonian and Neptunian Geology, John Murray examines one of the great scientific controversies of the nineteenth century: the competing Huttonian and Neptunian explanations of how the Earth’s geological formations came into being.

Drawing on geological observations, Murray considers evidence from rock formations, fossils and the structure of the Earth’s great masses. Written as a critical response to John Playfair’s Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, the book offers a careful, comparative treatment of the two theories and the questions they raise about the history of our planet.

The work reflects the same inquiring mind, breadth of learning and love of knowledge that run through all of John Murray’s writing.