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nary knowledge of the geology of Scotland.
James Hutton s involvement in the construction of the Forth
and Clyde Canal was the only formal obligation he would have
for the rest of his life. He likely remained involved with the
Davie/Hutton Sal Ammoniac chemical works because in 1765
the partnership was formalized, but there is no indication that he
had any essential responsibilities or that he spent much time
124 THE MAN WHO FOUND TI ME
there (although he did have materials sent to him at the chemical
works address). Indeed, Hutton had no need to work. He re-
turned to Edinburgh a wealthy man (he was among the original
investors in the canal, having paid 500 pounds to acquire five
shares). Moreover, he would continue to collect a steady stream
of income from the Davie/Hutton works, from Slighhouses,
which he rented out, and from various properties in Edinburgh:
 The rents, mails, and duties . . . of the houses, shops and others
in the Town of Edinburgh pertaining and belonging to me.
Hutton remained single, so he had no family obligations (it
appears that he sent money to his son in London, but there is no
evidence that he ever saw him). He did, however, live with his
three sisters, who never married, in the house that he built in
1770. It is probable that his mother was now deceased, other-
wise she would have moved in with him, too. A detailed descrip-
tion of the house was left by a relative of Hutton s, Sir James
Crichton-Browne (1840 1938), who was born in the house
forty-three years after Hutton s death:
(The house) was (in) a picturesque corner of Old Edinburgh.
It stood on a ridge about 120 feet above the south back of the
Canongate, and was a cul de sac, approached from St.
Leonards by a narrow pathway and a curious old arched pas-
sage, and from the south back of the Canongate by a long
flight of broad but much dilapidated steps. There were only
seven or eight houses in St. John s Hill, each detached and
standing in its own bit of ground, and shadowed by its own
trees. The house at St. John s Hill, standing back from the
THE ATHENS OF THE NORTH 125
road, and overshadowed by trees, was approached by a gate-
way and a short walk, and was very much like the houses of
the well-to-do in Edinburgh in those days. On the right, on
entering, was a long dining room, rarely used, to the left, a
small parlour that was the family rendezvous, and upstairs
there was a long fusty drawing-room, only opened on state
occasions, and a number of bedrooms, all stiffly furnished,
and with four-poster beds. At the back of the house was a
green on which we putted.
When Hutton lived there, at least one of the rooms served as
his laboratory. Soon after the house was built, a visitor wrote:
 His study is so full of fossils and chemical apparatus of various
kinds that there is barely room to sit down.
St. John s Hill was a curious location for the house. At a
time when New Town was under way, and when David Hume
and others would soon be building new and spacious houses
there, Hutton chose to build in the old town. The plot was just
outside the Flodden Wall, toward the end of the Royal Mile near
the Palace of Holyroodhouse. It was conveniently close to the
University of Edinburgh and the infirmary. The house was also
within a couple of blocks of the Davie/Hutton chemical works.
But no doubt the main reason he built there was that the spot
gave him an unblocked view of Arthur s Seat, the massive
mound at the eastern end of the city.
Arthur s Seat is a highly unusual geologic formation, and it
was particularly inspirational for Hutton. There was no way for
the doctor to grasp all the geologic phenomena revealed there,
126 THE MAN WHO FOUND TI ME
but he must have sensed a fascinating history. Indeed, this one
spot embodied the deep past of the Edinburgh region: 350 mil-
lion years ago, a volcano erupted, creating a volcanic cone; then
the area was submerged under an ancient sea, the waters eventu-
ally receding (or the land rising), leaving sedimentary rocks
around the volcanic cone; then followed earthquakes and moun-
tain-forming pressure that further raised and distorted the
mound; and finally an ice-age glacier overran it all. However,
eventually Hutton did recognize that the oddest feature, the wall
of exposed dark rocks that traverses the side of the hill, called Sal-
isbury Crags, was different from the other rocks on Arthur s Seat.
He alone realized that the Crags were younger rocks than the
strata around them. This realization became important later, as
he pondered the significance of subterranean heat and igneous
rocks. Arthur s Seat offered daily lessons for the philosopher.
Because Hutton had no worries or obligations, each day was
his own to do with as he pleased. According to Playfair, James
Hutton s consistent daily habits allowed him to remain remark-
ably focused on his geological inquiries, which now completely
dominated his thoughts. He was a late sleeper, but once out of
bed he went directly to his study and began working. He ate his
small midday meal quickly and alone. After eating, he would
return to his studies for a few more hours, and then go for a long
walk, often along the paths up and down Arthur s Seat, weather
permitting. He read a great deal, primarily natural histories and
travelogues. These were used to augment his own observations
and verify his theories. He spent every evening with friends,
either at home or at a tavern:  No professional, and rarely any
THE ATHENS OF THE NORTH 127
domestic arrangement, interrupted this uniform course of life, so
that his time was wholly divided between the pursuits of science
and the conversation of his friends.
Most of Hutton s companions were other natural philoso-
phers. But this was not just any collection of academics. Rather,
the scholars who were part of James Hutton s circle in Edin-
burgh were so freethinking, so forward looking, so productive,
and so prolific that collectively history remembers them as mem-
bers of the Scottish Enlightenment. It was the environment
these thinkers created noted for constant personal interaction
and the debate of new ideas and the specific teachings that
they shared that helped Hutton take what was a flash of insight
formed at Slighhouses and turn it into something far more com-
plete. The Scottish Enlightenment essentially served as the
incubator for Hutton s nascent idea and gave it the support and
protection it needed to mature as a fully realized, rigorous, and
robust theory. The scholars of the Enlightenment would also
create the institution through which Hutton would announce
his theory to the world in 1785.
The Scottish Enlightenment was an intellectual movement
that complemented the Whig regime in the city. It celebrated
progressive ideas and witnessed significant contributions in
fields as diverse as geology, mineralogy, chemistry, medicine,
political economy, history, philosophy, architecture, poetry, and
portraiture. If there was a unifying theme or philosophy, it was
that the  improvement of the natural world by means of
understanding and controlling it was fundamentally good and
128 THE MAN WHO FOUND TI ME
proper. Related to this was the idea that Newton-inspired natural
laws could and should be applied to many phenomena, such as
human nature and human history. Immanuel Kant s characteriza- [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]