Catastrophism is the idea that Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events that were sometimes worldwide in scope. It contrasts with the dominant consensus geological view, uniformitarianism (or gradualism), the idea that change, is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes, ie. the continual processes we see shaping the Earth today, are only those that shaped the Earth in its past.
Catastrophists
- See “Prominent Catastrophists since the Beginning of Modern Science” in Chaos and Creation (book) by Alfred de Grazia
See also
Books
- Palmer, T. (1994) Catastrophism, Neocatastrophism and Evolution, Society for Interdisciplinary Studies in association with Nottingham Trent University. ISBN 0-9514307-1-8 (SIS) ISBN 0-905488-20-2 (Nottingham Trent University)
- Trevor Palmer, Perilous Planet Earth: Catastrophes and Catastrophism Through the Ages, Published by Cambridge University Press, 2003, ISBN 0521819288, 9780521819282, 522 pages
- Derek Ager, The New Catastrophism: The Importance of the Rare Event in Geological History, Published by Cambridge University Press, 1995, ISBN 0521483581, 9780521483582, 252 pages
- Richard J. Huggett, Catastrophism: Systems of Earth History, Published by Edward Arnold, 1990, ISBN 0340517573, 9780340517574, 246 pages
- Richard J. Huggett, Catastrophism: Asteroids, Comets and Other Dynamic Events in Earth History, Published by Verso, 1997, ISBN 1859841295, 9781859841297, 262 pages