Geology developed as a science around the central theme of creating an earth-history. Regarding the natural world as having a history apart from human observation was a new concept. Reconstruction of the earth's past produced divergence of opinion and theory. Disagreement about geological ideas arose from competing geological styles and methodologies. Theology intersected with these discussions it did not form the basis of the conflict. This thesis challenges the traditional view that late eighteenth and early nineteenth century geological controversies were rooted in theological conflict. By giving greater emphasis to the cognitive dimension of the debates, the aim of this thesis is to reposition the conflicts as epistemological.By eliminating the evolutionary presupposition that history of science has imposed on the history of geology, the desire of geologists to establish principles for geology becomes more focused. The principles of knowledge and reason that the geologists were attempting to establish, largely by connecting them to Newtonian scientific methods, spurred new epistemologies for geological science. The result of these new epistemologies was the division of geological aims into historical and causal. The purpose of this thesis is to demonstrate how these two divergent approaches to the study of geology led to new ways of thinking about the earth and eventually erupted into conflict during the early nineteenth-century.
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