Earth's Deep History

September 22, 2014
Rudwick (Worlds Before Adam), emeritus professor of history at the University of California, San Diego, impressively demonstrates how our understanding of the age of the Earth has shifted over the course of several centuries. In the course of describing our growing knowledge, Rudwick shows how it is both possible and important to utilize historical techniques to gain insight into the history of the planet. He also argues persuasively about the historical relationship between religion and science: “In the history of the discovery of the Earth’s own history, as in the history of many other aspects of the sciences, the idea of a perennial and intrinsic ‘conflict’ between ‘Science’ and ‘Religion’—so central to the rhetoric of modern fundamentalists, both religious and atheistic—fails to stand up to historical scrutiny.” Rudwick presents a clear picture of the proponents of scientific discipline finding their way between conflicting hypotheses: a young vs. an old Earth; catastrophism vs. uniformitarianism; stability of the Earth’s surface vs. shifting continents due to plate tectonics. Throughout this rich and articulate presentation, Rudwick reveals how we have come to acknowledge an Earth far older than originally thought possible, with humans being a very late addition to the scene. Illus.

December 1, 2014

Rudwick (history emeritus, Univ. of California San Diego; Bursting the Limits of Time) seeks to tell the story of Earth, and, more specifically, how that story was slowly uncovered and pieced together by many individuals from a diversity of fields. Along the way, the author repeatedly points out that these individuals were often religious (indeed many were clergymen) and that the "war" between science and religion is a modern contrivance. There are plenty of other clashes that actually happened to focus on instead, such as debates concerning catastrophism and whether or not the planet is eternal. Rudwick gives all these theories their due in this relatively brief title. His emphasis is less on the correctness of past scientists than on how they told the narrative and whether they considered it a series of fortunate events or predetermined by laws (natural or divine). Some of these distinctions are less interesting to the modern reader, particularly those educated after the 1960s, when most current theories were established. VERDICT An engaging read for nonscientists and specialists alike, this book pleasingly illustrates how we came to know more about our world and the many people who played a part in that.--Cate Hirschbiel, Iwasaki Lib., Emerson Coll., Boston

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