>Art, like any change in paradigms, not everyone fell on the floor
>immediately and paid homage to Lyell, saying, "Oh golly how could I possibly
>have believed what I believed yesterday!". There were many many who
>believed in a global flood even after 1830. Lyell's book was a strong
>challenge to that view, and did change many minds because the diluvialists
>were unable to explain in a coherent fashion the data Lyell put forth.
I am not suggesting a paradigm shift, but moving form a preparadigm state,
where there were no unifying theories in the studies of the earth to a
paradigm where there was a unifying theory developed by Hutton and expanded
upon by Lyell, which had huge explanatory power. Prior to that time
geology was just a hodge-podge of individuals, each moving in a different
direction, with no unifying principles to guide them. Then in the late
1700's, Hutton put forth his immodest proposal that changed all of that
forever. Of course, the change took place gradually, and those who had not
thought of the idea themselves generally had to die off before the change
was complete, but the younger adherents were fully committed to
uniformitarian principles throughout the 19th century.
Art
http://chadwicka.swau.edu