History

Age of invention

Each of the disciplinary actors in this debate has a historical context leading up to the nineteeth century:

Physics

The peak of materialsim comes in the nineteeth century:

• Laws of thermo-dynamics
• Predictive formailsm
• Succeses of technological applications

Beginnings

Geology

Geology has developed and coalesced as an independent discipline:

• Left behind Biblical limits on theories of the Earth's origin and eveolution.
• Formal organisations and publications across many countries in Europe and north America
• Strong empirical tradition and active (professional and amatuer) investigators

Layers of time

Wider Society

Heirarchy of inquiries:

• Imperialism of Physics
• Authority of Kelvin inside scientific community
• Status of Kelvin in popular culture

Importance of Earth's Age of with other areas

• Religion: in early nineteeth century therwas still a large academic community influenced by Biblical timescale
• Evolution: Biologists interested in Evolution (for and against) were interested in the link between the timescales of Geology and Biology.