1. ID James Hutton and define Uniformitariansim

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James Hutton was a Scottish farmer and naturalist during the 17th century, but he is more commonly known as the founder of modern geology. He was the one that came to believe that the earth was being formed at that moment. His ideas also established geology as proper science.

Uniformitarianism is basically saying that the past is explainable by the processes in operation in the present. There is a saying that says "The present is the key to the past" and that applies in this situation.