Age of the Earth: 4004 BC - 2002 AD (2001)(en)(321s)

297 Pages·2001·25.796 MB·English

by  C L E Lewis and S J Knell, Cherry Lewis, Simon J. Knell

The Age of the Earth
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GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190
The Age of the Earth:
from 4004 BC to AD 2002
EDITED BY
C. L. E. LEWIS
History of Geology Group, Macclesfield, UK
&
S. J. KNELL
Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, UK
2001
Published by
The Geological Society
London
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Contents
Preface vi
KNELL, S. J. & LEWIS, C. L. E. Celebrating the age of the Earth 1
FULLER, J. G. C. M. Before the hills in order stood: the beginning of the geology of time in 15
England
VACCARI, E. European views on terrestrial chronology from Descartes to the mid- 25
eighteenth century
TAYLOR, K. L. Buffon, Desmarest and the ordering of geological events in epoques 39
RUDWICK, M. J. S. Jean-Andre de Luc and nature's chronology 51
TORRENS, H. S. Timeless order: William Smith (1769-1839) and the search for raw 61
materials 1800-1820
MORRELL, J. Genesis and geochronology: the case of John Phillips (1800-1874) 85
SHIPLEY, B. C. 'Had Lord Kelvin a right?': John Perry, natural selection and the age of the 91
Earth, 1894-1895
WYSE JACKSON, P. N. John Joly (1857-1933) and his determinations of the age of the 107
Earth
LEWIS, C. L. E. Arthur Holmes' vision of a geological timescale 121
YOCHELSON, E. L. & LEWIS, C. L. E. The age of the Earth in the United States (1891-1931): 139
from the geological viewpoint
BRUSH, S. G. Is the Earth too old? The impact of geochronology on cosmology, 1929-1952 157
KAMBER, B. S., MOORBATH, S. & WHITEHOUSE, M. J. The oldest rocks on Earth: time 177
constraints and geological controversies
DALRYMPLE, G. B. The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly) 205
solved
HOFMANN, A. W. Lead isotopes and the age of the Earth - a geochemical accident 223
CALLOMON, J. H. Fossils as geological clocks 237
MANNING, A. Time, life and the Earth 253
STRINGER, C. B. Dating the origin of modern humans 265
REES, M. J. Understanding the beginning and the end 275
Index 285
Preface
CHERRY L. E. LEWIS & SIMON J. KNELL
This book is dedicated to the memory of John meeting to have in the autumn of 1999 - the
Christopher Thackray (1948-1999), archivist at end of the millennium ... [It was agreed] that
the Natural History Museum (NHM) and Geo- we should hold a one-day meeting on the history
logical Society. It evolved from Celebrating the of geochronology, age of the earth, geological
Age of the Earth, the Geological Society's time scale, all that sort of thing ...
William Smith Millennium Meeting, convened
Then we had to think of a convenor.
in June 2000 by Cherry Lewis on behalf of the
History of Geology Group (HOGG), of which
All the committee coughed and looked at their
Simon Knell was then a committee member.
feet, until someone remembered that you are
John had been chairman of HOGG since its
working on AH and the age of the earth, and
foundation in 1992 and without him this project
might be just the perfect person. ... it is not a
would never have happened.
huge amount of work.
The idea began with a meeting between John
and Cherry, as she sought material for her Perhaps we could talk about it. Or perhaps you
forthcoming book on Arthur Holmes. wish you had never met us!
BWs,
Late in the sunny afternoon of 18th June 1998, John
John Thackray and I were walking from the
Natural History Museum towards South Ken- How could Cherry refuse? Over the next few
sington tube, discussing possible topics for months they exchanged frequent emails as it
future HOGG meetings. At that time John became the main topic of much HOGG dis-
was Chairman of HOGG and I was a new cussion. The idea grew: a one-day conference,
member, of but a few months standing. It was then two; a provisional line-up of British speak-
only the second time I had met him, but ers soon became international; the end of 1999
already he had been immensely helpful in my became mid-2000, to give us more time to
search for material relating to Holmes. organize it.
John had found a large number of Holmes' While Cherry organized speakers, John talked
letters in the NHM archives and I had spent to people behind the scenes: the Royal Society
the day reading them, so I was full of all the liked the idea so much they suggested we apply
exciting things I had uncovered. 'What about a for sponsorship, while the Geological Society
meeting on Holmes and his contemporaries?' elected it for the Millennium's William Smith
I suggested, as we hovered on the pavement meeting. With funds pledged we could now invite
waiting to cross the road. John looked doubt- speakers from abroad, and to our delight the
ful, 'Would that be enough to fill a whole day?' Geological Society of America also promised to
he asked, as we dodged the traffic, 'But we sponsor two airfares. By the end of that year it
could have one on the age of the Earth' he was all looking rather good, but it was then the
continued, while we refuged on the island. terrible shock came. John was seriously ill with
Instantly, standing in the middle of Thurloe cancer. Incredibly, he lived only a few months
Street, we looked at each other and both knew longer. He died on 6 May 1999 at the age of
that this was 'it'. With the Millennium ap- fifty-one.
proaching The Age of the Earth seemed to In the mid-1980s John had worked in the
have a particular resonance. We threw a few Geological Museum where Simon also had an
ideas around until we reached the station, but office. John had been one of Simon's PhD
I heard nothing more until I received this examiners and it was John who encouraged him
email about two weeks later: to join the HOGG committee. John really was
the lifeblood of that group but in remembering
Dear Cherry, him here we celebrate more than his breadth
we have just had a HOGG committee meeting, of knowledge, professionalism and scholarship.
and you will be alarmed to hear that your name Unassuming, ever helpful, and with a wonder-
was mentioned. We were talking about what fully dry wit, John's most important quality was
PREFACE vii
the way he always put things into perspective. of the twentieth century it had been common
With great affection we dedicate this book to practice for scientists from the different BAAS
his memory. Sections to get together to share their knowledge
We had a clear vision of what we wanted the on subjects of interest to them all. Today it
meeting to achieve, inspired by William Sollas rarely happens - we are all so 'specialized' - but
who in 1900, as President of Section C - Geol- uniquely we had this chance.
ogy, had opened his address to the British Asso- Over two days (28 and 29 June 2000) the
ciation for the Advancement of Science (BAAS) audience was taken from Elizabethan 'mind
in the following terms: The close of one century, control' to the very cutting edge of work now
the dawn of another, may naturally suggest some being done to date the Earth and its rocks. The
brief retrospective glance over the path along first day was largely given over to historians who
which our science has advanced ... from which revealed the many ways in which the Earth's age
we may gather hope of its future progress.' was first ignored and then grew to become one of
Sollas' theme was the age of the Earth, then the most important scientific questions of all time.
perhaps the topic of interest to scientists from The second day emerged from these historical
many disciplines. And this was the point - perspectives to that of scientists reflecting upon a
scientists from many disciplines. Not only did we golden age of radiochemistry, as geochronologi-
want to take a retrospective look at our science cal techniques were developed with which to
over the last hundred years or so, but here was a establish a geological time scale, and from which
rare opportunity to involve people from a range all those used today have descended. The meeting
of scientific disciplines interested in the age of the also included the William Smith lecture given by
Earth as a topic, and geochronology as a tool - Hugh Torrens, as well as contributions from other
geologists, biologists, archaeologists, astrono- distinguished individuals from a range of scien-
mers and, of course, historians. In the early part tific disciplines, on how a knowledge of geology
Speakers and contributors to Celebrating the Age of the Earth, held at the Geological Society of London,
Burlington House, London, on 28 and 29 June 2000. Starting from the back row (row 4), left to right:
Row 4: John Calloman, Patrick Wyse Jackson, Ken Taylor, Martin Rudwick.
Row 3: Martin Rees, Stephen Moorbath, John Fuller, Ezio Vaccari.
Row 2: Aubrey Manning, Gerald Friedman, Chris Stringer, Joe Burchfield.
Row 1: Richard Wilding, Stephen Brush, G. J. Wasserburg, Al Hofmann, Cherry Lewis.
viii PREFACE
and geochronology contributes to, and overlaps to helping us. We would also like to thank the
with, their subjects. publishing staff for their work in producing such
But this volume is not just a record of the a splendid book; HOGG for sponsoring some of
conference. There are a number of contributions the photos in the volume, as well as the Geo-
here that were not presented at the meeting and, logical Society of London, the Royal Society
with time to reflect since the event, all papers and the Geological Society of America for enab-
have been revised. As editors we certainly made ling us to Celebrate the Age of Earth in the first
our authors work and in this regard we must place. John Thackray would have been proud
thank all the referees who contributed so much of us all.
It is recommended that reference to all or part of this book should be made in one of the following
ways:
LEWIS, C. L. E. & KNELL, S. J. (eds) 2001. The Age of the Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002. Geological
Society, London, Special Publications, 190.
MANNING, A. 2001. Time, life and the Earth. In: LEWIS, C. L. E. & KNELL, S. J. (eds) The Age of the
Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 190, 253-264.
Celebrating the age of the Earth
SIMON J. KNELL1 & CHERRY L. E. LEWIS2
1 Department of Museum Studies, 105 Princess Road East, Leicester LEI 7LG, UK
(email, [email protected])
2 History of Geology Group, 21 Fowler Street, Macclesfield, Cheshire SK10 2AN, UK
(email: [email protected])
Abstract: The age of the Earth has been a subject of intellectual interest for many centuries,
even millennia. Of the early estimates, Archbishop Ussher's famous calculation of 4004 BC
for the date of Creation represents one of the shortest time periods ever assigned to the
Earth's age, but by the seventeenth century many naturalists were sceptical of such
chronologies. In the eighteenth century it was Nature that provided the record for Hutton
and others.
But not all observers of geology enquired about time. Many, like William Smith, simply
earned a living from their practical knowledge of it, although his nephew, John Phillips, was
one of the first geologists to attempt a numerical age for the Earth from the depositional
rates of sediments. For more than fifty years variations of that method prevailed as
geology's main tool for dating the Earth, while the physicists constrained requirements for a
long timescale with ever more rigorous, and declining, estimates of a cooling Sun and Earth.
In 1896 the advent of radioactivity provided the means by which the Earth's age would at
last be accurately documented, although it took another sixty years. Since that time ever
more sophisticated chronological techniques have contributed to a search for the oldest
rocks, the start of life, and human evolution. In the attempt to identify those landmarks, and
others, we have greatly progressed our understanding about the processes that shape our
planet and the Universe, although in doing so we discover that the now-accepted age of the
Earth is but a 'geochemical accident' which remains a contentious issue.
Establishing the Earth's age and chronology has combined with the wide adoption of uniformi-
been something of an intellectual baton passed tarianism, gave the sacience new and seemingly
from one academic creed to another as each rational ways to think about time. But the new
seemed to offer new hope of solution or under- geologists were often reticent about discussing
standing. In the seventeenth century the Earth's time in terms of years. By the 1860s, however, the
age was subject to the strictures of religious and subject added the great evolutionary debate to its
social orthodoxy. The product of Creation, intellectual baggage as T. H. Huxley defended
theological study offered one logical path to its Darwin's billion-year estimate for natural selec-
understanding, but also to its containment. This tion. Now both biologists and geologists joined
pattern would repeat itself, as forces for an forces to demand a longer timescale which per-
expanded timescale repeatedly did battle with mitted the playing out of those evolutionary and
those who thought the Earth relatively young, uniformitarian processes necessary to explain the
This was never simply a conflict between 'pro- condition of the Earth.
gressive' science and a resistant society, but However, the age of the Earth had acquired a
rather a reflection of the path travelled by an new interest group. Applying theoretical ideas
idea through a complexity of beliefs, dogmas, developed in the arly years of the century, a
theories, measurements and methodologies. number of respected physicists began to offer
In the eighteenth century, Theories of the hope of at last calculating the Earth's age in
Earth marshalled existing evidence, scientific years. But if their calculations were correct, then
practice and analogy, to construct models for those great underpinning theories of the natural
the origin and development of the planet. At the sciences could not be. With the discovery of
beginning of the nineteenth century, modern radioactivity in 1896, the future of the Earth's
geology emerged as a rigorous and empirical age was firmly in the court of that emerging inter-
field of study then centred on stratigraphy with disciplinary subgroup, the geophysicists. In the
its implied notions of relative age. This, when twentieth century these extended the timescale
From: LEWIS, C. L. E. & KNELL, S. J. (eds). The Age of the Earth: from 4004 BC to AD 2002. Geolog-
ical Society, London, Special Publications, 190, 1-14. 0305-8719/01/$15.00 © The Geological Society of
London 2001.