DARWIN AND THE FOURTH DIMENSION: THE HISTORIC IMPORTANCE OF EVOLUTION TO THE UNDERSTANDING OF DEEP TIME

Born just 21 years after publication of James Hutton’s Theory of the Earth (1788), Charles Darwin emerged into an intellectual milieu rife with excitement, curiosity and uncertainty regarding the age of the Earth. The young scientist intuitively understood the implications for cumulative change that derived from Hutton’s revelation of deep time, Nature’s fourth dimension. Encouraged by his principal geological mentor, Charles Lyell, Darwin eagerly embraced the nascent historical science of geology. HMS Beagle Captain Robert Fitzroy gave Darwin volume one of the newly published first edition of Lyell’s Principles of Physical Geology (1830), and the aspiring geologist immediately applied its principles to the geologic history of St. Jago. By the time Darwin received volume two in South America, deep time had become integral to his geologic interpretations.

Just as Hutton’s concept of uniformity of process was predicated upon recognition of the planet’s great age, Darwin’s evolution by natural selection at once required and reinforced it. His tree-of-life concept, first illustrated in 1837, implicitly assumed a major fourth dimension. And yet, in this his bicentennial year, the significance of Darwin’s contribution to the acceptance of Nature’s longevity is seriously undervalued. For example, at the University of Cambridge’s recent week-long Darwin conference, this key aspect of his influence and legacy was almost entirely ignored. The landmark geologic revelation of deep time provided the context and conceptual framework that made Darwin’s great idea possible. Darwin, much more than Alfred Russell Wallace, understood the significance of the temporal and biological implications of the geologic record, despite its intrinsic imperfections. As Richard Fortey proudly proclaimed at last year’s International Geological Congress, "He [Darwin] was one of us!" Indeed, Hutton’s deep time and Darwin’s natural selection merged in a profound conceptual synergism that gave Nature a fourth dimension and humanity access to its place in Earth history.