For 10 points_,_ name this idea, which essentially states that "the present is the key to the past."
It opposes catastrophism, the idea that the earth has been shaped by a series of events such as Biblical floods. First used by William Whewell, its concepts were shaped by James Hutton, and reached wide acceptance with the works of Sir Charles Lyell. Lyell showed that the processes currently at work on the earth explained its structures, and no catastrophic processes had necessarily happened. For 10 points_,_ name this idea, which essentially states that "the present is the key to the past."
It opposes catastrophism, the idea that the earth has been shaped by a series of events such as Biblical floods.
{Uniformitarianism}