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James Hutton, the Scottish Enlightenment and the North West

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James Hutton, the Scottish Enlightenment and the North West by Vivien As old as the hills Martin ECENTLY we had a display of fossils Rin the library. A young woman with two small children examined a fossilised James Hutton, the Scottish dinosaur tooth with great interest. She then turned to me and asked if cavemen would have kept dinosaurs as pets. And to my surprise the question was serious. Enlightenment and the It brought home to me just how difficult the concept of time can be. Especially the further back you go. All those billions of years that have gone into creating North West Highlands Geopark the planet we know today, including the millions it’s taken for our particular bit of it, Scotland, to reach its present form. Such a vast span of time can be hard, if not impossible, for our minds to grasp. This ‘deep time’, as it’s called, is measured in eons, eras, periods and epochs. Geologists believe that many of these eras were brought to an end by specific cataclysmic events. Like, for example, the one 64 million years ago, when a gigantic meteor strike is thought to have set off a chain reaction so destructive that it led to mass extinctions on Earth, the dinosaurs included. Extinctions that occurred long, long before the arrival of humans. So no, if you were a caveman you most certainly wouldn’t have had a dinosaur as a pet! Fred Flintstone has a lot to answer for! “Go to the mountains to read the immeasurable course of time.” James Hutton, 1788 Fred Flintstone has a lot to Fred & Dino Credit Hanna-Barbera Gruinard Bay answer for! Prof Lorna The North West Highlands Dawson of the Geopark welcomes you! James Hutton Institute So how do we know how old the earth is? After all, humankind is one of the more recent additions to the planet and people weren’t around to witness what happened. To a great extent it’s thanks to the work of a Scot, James Hutton The Rock Stop, Unapool (image credit NWHGeopark) (1726-1797), one of the many remarkable figures of the Scottish Enlightenment. Hutton wrote in 1795, “we find no vestige of a beginning–no prospect of an end.” Revolutionary stuff for those times! No Hutton had studied chemistry, and wonder he was deemed the ‘Blasphemous Geologist.’ Angus Sinclair for the shocking World’s End pub murders He was part of that movement known while running the family farm in in Edinburgh, committed 37 years previously. Sinclair was as the Scottish Enlightenment, a Berwickshire, his examination of soil led Nonetheless, Hutton’s innovative work helped make geology initially acquitted of the murders, but Professor Dawson’s golden age in the 18th and early 19th to the radical proposal that the interior a science in its own right and earned him the accolade painstaking re-analysis of soil samples finally led to his centuries when knowledge in all of the Earth was hot, thereby fuelling of ‘Father of Geology’. Nor is his work forgotten today. He conviction and at last justice was done. I suspect Hutton branches of the arts and the sciences the creation of new rock which, through believed that understanding what’s in the soil is important, would have been delighted to see his scientific endeavours of It was a time of took a huge leap forward. It was a time erosion and sedimentation, provided and the staff at the eponymous James Hutton Institute in yesteryear playing their part in achieving justice today! great intellectual of great intellectual and scientific the Earth with a continuous supply of Aberdeen believe that too. Their research into environmental, and scientific achievements, when new ideas were new soil. Soil which held clues to its crop and food science plays a crucial role in shaping Scottish Hutton’s ideas didn’t come totally out of the blue, however. achievements embraced, education flourished and own history and was rich in elements Government policy. But there’s more to it than that. Professor specific to the place and rock of origin. Lorna Dawson, ‘soil sleuth’ and forensic scientist at the Knockan Crag He observed that “a vast proportion institute, has followed in Hutton’s footsteps – though in a of the present rocks are composed of direction that might have surprised him. As Professor of materials afforded by the destruction of No wonder he Forensic Geology, she’s developed the science of soil analysis bodies, animal, vegetable and mineral, was deemed the to such an extent that previously unsolvable crimes have of more ancient formation.” The land ‘Blasphemous been solved. In 2014 her work resulted in the conviction of is never static, but a living system, he Geologist’ concluded, and these processes could only have happened over millions of years, not the 6,000 years or so as decreed by the church. “In geology,” James Hutton The building blocks of Scotland of The building blocks Geologists Ben Peach and John Horne still debating! Inside one of the bone caves human reason, that is rational thinking, knowledge should be based on observation and evidence But what exactly are geoparks? I’d assumed they were came to the fore. Everything was – became the order of the day. What couldn’t be justified by solely about the landscape. But I was wrong. There’s a challenged. reason was questioned, and often subsequently rejected. lot more to them than that. Jean Mackay, who works for the geopark, explains, “One of the main reasons for the This heady atmosphere of experiment The Scottish Enlightenment saw the intellectual and cultural geopark is to promote sustainable development and in and discussion struck a chord with the landscape in Scotland take a radical leap forward, adding particular geotourism in our remote and fragile area. We’re enquiring minds of very many Scots. greatly to the wonderfully inventive and creative brew that very concerned with conserving our heritage, be it geology, With a widely literate population, new makes Scots the people they are today. It was also a time landscape or culture, for future generations.” books discussing emerging ideas were What couldn’t when Scotland’s universities, already with strong links to read with great interest, leading to be justified by Europe, were held in even greater esteem, with Scotland and Until I visited, I hadn’t realised that geoparks were set up and a new understanding of how things reason was France being the two great centres of the Enlightenment. run by local communities. That’s a mammoth achievement. worked, and how they came about. The questioned, and It’s a period in Scotland’s intellectual and cultural history we In the park’s Rock Stop visitor centre at Unapool (not to status quo was no longer accepted often subsequently should be proud of. I firmly believe that knowing your own be confused with Ullapool) we not only enjoyed good food blindly. Empiricism – the notion that rejected history is vital in understanding why your country – and you and good coffee, but also found that the exhibition gave us with it - develop the way they do. History really does matter. a much clearer understanding of how this landscape was formed and what makes it so special. The more you learn, the The Hermit’s Castle, But from the fascinating intellectual landscape of 18th more you can read the landscape around you. Achmelvich century Scotland, let’s get back to our geological landscape, complete with its array of weird and wonderful names. Life on the edge is challenging, but geotourism is proving Names ranging from the Cenozoic to the Paleoproterozoic, a successful way to bring in visitors and boost the local the Cambrian to the Pleistocene. Though thanks to film economy, bringing benefits to all. Jean again, “We hope director Steven Spielberg most of us know at least one of that visitors will get a deep connection with our landscape, an appreciation of our culture and heritage and an these unparalleled landscapes, to care them! But can you tell your Jurassic from your Triassic, or for them, to make them accessible to your Cretaceous from your Carboniferous, or even your understanding of the problems that we face as communities based in the Geopark.” visitors, while at the same time ensuring Silurian (think Dr Who) from your Siderian? I have to admit, I the sustainability of communities can’t. But I do know an excellent place where all is revealed, This whole area is one that will take your breath away. within their boundaries. and that’s the North West Highlands Geopark. Initially it can seem like an empty wilderness, but it’s a wilderness that supports people, and has supported very What makes the NWH Geopark so Home to both Knockan Crag and the intriguingly named special? What does it offer to visitors, Bone Caves of Inchnadamph, the NWH Geopark is part many more in the past. Many of the global geoparks are in remote areas where today jobs are few and far between and Some of the oldest these geotourists? A very great deal! of UNESCO’s Global Geopark Network. Such is the depopulation is a major problem. That doesn’t mean people rocks in the world Some of the oldest rocks in the world importance of these geoparks that they enjoy the same don’t want to live and work there. Just the opposite. But how are here. Some of are here. Some of the most bizarre and recognition as World Heritage Sites. Established in 2004, to make life there sustainable? the most bizarre breath-taking scenery in the country. the NWH Geopark was the first of its kind in Scotland and and breath-taking Some of the most stunning sandy covers an area of over 2,000 sq.
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