Our transcription: The first person to realize the immensity of geologic time and begin to investigate it in a systematic way was an Eighteenth Century Scotsman named James Hutton. His observations and ideas about the origin of rocks began as a pastime that he shared with other wealthy intellectuals of Edinburough society. But Hutton's interpretations and conclusions ignited a major controversy throughout Europe, and survive today as the foundation for modern geologic thought.
