![](https://assets.cambridge.org/97811080/72328/cover/9781108072328.jpg)
- Publisher:
- Cambridge University Press
- Online publication date:
- September 2011
- Print publication year:
- 2011
- First published in:
- 1802
- Online ISBN:
- 9780511973093
12th August 2024: digital purchasing is currently unavailable on Cambridge Core. Due to recent technical disruption affecting our publishing operation, we are experiencing some delays to publication. We are working hard to restore services as soon as possible and apologise for the inconvenience. For further updates please visit our website: https://www.cambridge.org/news-and-insights/technical-incident
John Murray (1778–1820) was a public lecturer and writer on chemistry and geology. After attending the University of Edinburgh he became a popular public lecturer on chemistry and pharmacy. He was also a prolific writer of chemistry textbooks which were widely used in British universities. This popular volume, first published anonymously in 1802, contains Murray's critical response to John Playfair's volume Illustrations of the Huttonian Theory of the Earth, also published in 1802 and re-issued in this series. In this volume Murray clearly describes both the competing Huttonian and Neptunian (also known as Wernerian) theories of rock formation. Using much of the same geological evidence as Playfair, Murray also objectively analyses the theories' claims through rock and fossil formations and concludes in support of the Wernerian theory. This valuable volume explores one of the major geological controversies of the period and illustrates the main contemporary criticisms of Hutton's work.
* Views captured on Cambridge Core between #date#. This data will be updated every 24 hours.
Usage data cannot currently be displayed.