James Hutton & Joseph Black

John Playfair (1748-1819) was born in the parish of Liff and Benvie, on the outskirts of Dundee, where his father was minister. He graduated at the University of St Andrews in 1765. After completing his theological studies, Playfair came to Edinburgh in 1769, where he resided until 1772. According to his nephew and biographer, James Playfair, he then became acquainted with Joseph Black, the chemist, James Hutton and Adam Smith, the economist. Playfair himself noted (see p. 74) that his acquaint ance with Hutton dated from about 1781. From 1773 until 1782 Playfair was the incumbent of his father's parish near Dundee. He was appointed to the Chair of Mathematics in the University of Edinburgh in 1781, and translated to that of Natural Philosophy in 1805, a post he held until his death in 1819. Playfair earned a considerable reputation in at least three branches of learning — mathematics, history of sciences and especially geology. His book Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory, published in 1802, five years after Hutton's death is a marvellously clear and logical exposition and extension of Hutton's Theory. And having done justice to Hutton's sci ence he set about doing equal justice to Hutton, in an address to the Society on January 10, 1803. It seems highly appropriate to reprint this delightful article in 1997, the bicentenary of the death of James Hutton. The biography is an affectionate account of Hutton and his catholic interests and a wonderful piece of English prose. It has many marvellous episodes including the reaction of Hutton to finding granite veins at Glen Tilt (pp. 68, 69) and the oft-quoted passage, now a classic of geological literature, about the discovery of the abyss of time at Siccar Point in 1788 (pp. 69-73). On that occasion Playfair and Sir James Hall had the privilege of accompanying Hutton to this world-renowned unconformity. The Life ofDr Hutton was reprinted in 1822 as part of the Works of John Playfair (ed. James G. Playfair, Edinburgh). A facsimile edition appeared in 1970 (Hafner Press, New York) as part of a larger book containing Hutton's major geological papers.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.33.42, on 30 Sep 2021 at 10:54:38, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0263593300090027 ii JAMES HUTTON & JOSEPH BLACK It seems appropriate on this occasion to include the immediately suc ceeding short account in the same volume of the Transactions of the Life and character of Dr Black (1728-1799) by Adam Ferguson (1723-1816) who was Professor of Natural and subsequently Moral Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. Joseph Black, the discoverer of fixed air (carbon dioxide) and latent heat, was an intimate friend of James Hutton. Ferguson writes engagingly about the differences in the character of the two men. In addition Ferguson's sketch of Black's other friends (pp. 113-115) illuminates the closeknit community that existed in Edinburgh in the latter part of the 18th century. This biography of Black, read on August 3, 1801, preceded Playfair's Life of Hutton by more than a year. G. Y. Craig, FRSE July 1997