theory of uniformitarianism
E122068
The theory of uniformitarianism is a foundational geological principle stating that the same natural processes observed shaping the Earth today have operated in much the same way throughout deep geological time.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| theory of uniformitarianism canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1036352 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: theory of uniformitarianism Context triple: [James Hutton, knownFor, theory of uniformitarianism]
-
A.
Principles of Geology
Principles of Geology is Charles Lyell’s landmark 19th-century work that popularized uniformitarianism and fundamentally shaped modern geological science and Charles Darwin’s thinking on Earth’s history.
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B.
Gaia hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis is a scientific theory proposing that Earth’s living organisms and their inorganic surroundings interact to form a self-regulating, complex system that helps maintain conditions suitable for life.
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C.
ages of the world (Weltalter) theory
The ages of the world (Weltalter) theory is Schelling’s speculative philosophical account of cosmic and historical development, portraying reality as unfolding through successive epochs that reveal the dynamic relationship between God, nature, and human freedom.
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D.
Lamarckism
Lamarckism is an early evolutionary theory proposing that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring, emphasizing use and disuse of organs as drivers of change.
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E.
Darwinism
Darwinism is the scientific theory of biological evolution by natural selection, explaining how species change over time through heritable variation and differential survival and reproduction.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: theory of uniformitarianism Target entity description: The theory of uniformitarianism is a foundational geological principle stating that the same natural processes observed shaping the Earth today have operated in much the same way throughout deep geological time.
-
A.
Principles of Geology
Principles of Geology is Charles Lyell’s landmark 19th-century work that popularized uniformitarianism and fundamentally shaped modern geological science and Charles Darwin’s thinking on Earth’s history.
-
B.
Gaia hypothesis
The Gaia hypothesis is a scientific theory proposing that Earth’s living organisms and their inorganic surroundings interact to form a self-regulating, complex system that helps maintain conditions suitable for life.
-
C.
ages of the world (Weltalter) theory
The ages of the world (Weltalter) theory is Schelling’s speculative philosophical account of cosmic and historical development, portraying reality as unfolding through successive epochs that reveal the dynamic relationship between God, nature, and human freedom.
-
D.
Lamarckism
Lamarckism is an early evolutionary theory proposing that organisms can pass on traits acquired during their lifetime to their offspring, emphasizing use and disuse of organs as drivers of change.
-
E.
Darwinism
Darwinism is the scientific theory of biological evolution by natural selection, explaining how species change over time through heritable variation and differential survival and reproduction.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (48)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
geological principle
ⓘ
philosophy of geology ⓘ scientific theory ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
doctrine of uniformity
ⓘ
uniformitarianism ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
erosion
ⓘ
mountain building ⓘ plate tectonics ⓘ sea-level change ⓘ sedimentation ⓘ volcanism ⓘ weathering ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Charles Lyell
ⓘ
James Hutton ⓘ |
| assumes |
biological processes are broadly comparable through time
ⓘ
chemical laws are constant through time ⓘ physical laws are constant through time ⓘ |
| component | actualism ⓘ |
| contrastsWith | catastrophism ⓘ |
| coreIdea | the present is the key to the past ⓘ |
| critiquedFor | overemphasis on slow gradual change ⓘ |
| epistemicRole |
framework for interpreting geological evidence
ⓘ
methodological principle in geology ⓘ |
| field |
earth science
ⓘ
geology ⓘ |
| historicalPeriod |
19th century
ⓘ
late 18th century ⓘ |
| influenced |
Charles Darwin
ⓘ
evolutionary theory ⓘ modern geology ⓘ |
| influencedBy | James Hutton ⓘ |
| involves |
repetition of natural processes over deep time
ⓘ
slow and gradual geological change ⓘ |
| modernView | allows for both gradual processes and catastrophic events ⓘ |
| popularizedBy | Charles Lyell ⓘ |
| relatedConcept |
deep time
ⓘ
gradualism ⓘ |
| statesThat |
Earth’s features can be explained by long-term processes
ⓘ
geological processes are generally uniform through time ⓘ natural processes operating today also operated in the past ⓘ |
| status | foundational principle of geology ⓘ |
| supports |
concept of deep geological time
ⓘ
interpretation of rock record using present-day processes ⓘ |
| usedIn |
geomorphology
ⓘ
historical geology ⓘ paleoclimatology ⓘ sedimentology ⓘ stratigraphic interpretation ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: theory of uniformitarianism Description of subject: The theory of uniformitarianism is a foundational geological principle stating that the same natural processes observed shaping the Earth today have operated in much the same way throughout deep geological time.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.