Theory of the Earth, by James Hutton, [1788 and 1795]
WHEN we trace the parts of which this terrestrial system is composed, and when we view the general connection of those several parts, the whole presents a machine of a peculiar construction by which it is adapted to a certain end. We perceive a fabric, erected in wisdom, to obtain a purpose worthy of the power that is apparent in the production of it. WE know little of the earth's internal parts, or of the materials which compose it at any…