A historical view of uniformitarianism: change, misconceptions and the modern meaning

Abstract

"Uniformitarianism' has been used as a term in the geological sciences for 160 years, but its meaning and significance have been changing and confused. The author outlines uniformitarianism in this article, and suggests that it is already a historical concept. He proposes that "uniformitarianism' should be used for the original meaning as advocated by Lyell in the earth 19th century. The main root of the misconceptions or errors surrounding uniformitarianism today is the mistaking of the later developed methodological uniformitarianism for the original concept of substantive uniformitarianism. -from English summary