PALAETIOLOGY: WILLIAM WHEWELL’S PHILOSOPHY OF THE INDUCTIVE SCIENCES AND THE BIRTH OF HISTORICAL GEOLOGY

The characterization of early nineteenth century geology as a fierce debate between uniformitarian and catastrophist models of the Earth’s past does more to impede our understanding of this important period than it does to enlighten it. A more accurate and illuminating way of casting this period would be as a debate between historical and ahistorical geologists over the nature of causes. To ahistorical geologists like Lyell, the past was not mechanically different from the present, and therefore the modern suite of causes should be sufficient to explain it. To historical geologists like Sedgwick and Conybeare, limiting geological explanations to the range of current causes and rates was shortsighted, if not outright counterproductive. In essence, these two camps were debating a single, simple question: Were there causes in the past that no longer operate today?

In his 1840 work, The Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences Founded Upon Their History, William Whewell laid out a rigorous methodology for what he called palaetiology, the study of past causes. Whewell demonstrated that not only was it theoretically possible to study causes that were no longer active, but that in many branches of knowledge, including geology, biogeography, and linguistics, it was methodologically necessary. By showing that it was possible to incorporate the study of past causes into the framework of rigorous inductive science, Whewell broadened the ability of geologists to make scientific hypotheses and fostered the fledgling field of Historical Geology.