uniformitarianism
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English
Etymology
From uniformitarian + -ism, coined by English polymath William Whewell in 1837.
Pronunciation
Noun
uniformitarianism (uncountable)
- (chiefly geology) The scientific principle that natural processes operated in the past in the same way and at the same rates that they operate today.
- Antonym: catastrophism
- 2004, Richard Fortey, The Earth, Folio Society, published 2011, page 20:
- There has been much puffy stuff written about whether Lyell's uniformitarianism permitted variations in intensity of causes, or whether he applied his logic in a consistent way, and whether he assumed indefinite stretches of geological time.
Translations
the scientific principle that natural processes operated in the past in the same way that they do today
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