It was during the summer of 1787 that James Hutton and his colleague, John Clerk, succeeded in making the first serious geological survey of the Island of Arran. Since that time many have followed in their footsteps and the ferries now carry geological field parties over to Arran almost every month of the year. The reason for this popularity is that the island has a rich and varied geological history spanning nearly 600 million years packed into its relatively small geographic area. This makes it the ideal training ground in which to put geological science into practice.

Geology as a science is now over two hundred years old and is undergoing a major transformation with the dawn of the twenty-first century. Technological advances are being made at an increasing rate and are providing a multitude of new ways in which to investigate the Earth's dynamics. Consequently, geology is now amongst a number of disciplines collected together as the ‘Earth Sciences’. With such a diversity of approaches it is more important than ever for a student of the Earth Sciences to have a solid, central, supporting knowledge of geological processes and principles from which to branch out into further, more specialised studies. To master geology in the field is still the most intensive and effective way in which to achieve this as it develops the mind to think quickly in a logical and scientific manner, as well as introducing practical methods of dealing with rocks on a large scale.