“Rudwick’s book is authoritative and riveting, and its historical breadth is bound to make geology exciting for readers from both sciences and humanities.”

New Scientist

Here, Rudwick tells the remarkable story of how the history of our planet evolved in the light of new ideas about humans’ connection to nature, advances in scientific methodology, and the changing influence of the Christian faith on man’s beliefs about Earth’s past. . . . He succeeds in weaving together a compelling account of how Earth’s timescale expanded to magnitudes far beyond those imagined by early scholars, and of the individuals responsible for advancing scientific thinking through their ideas and actions.”

Times Higher Education

“With his talent for encapsulating pre-modern mindsets, Rudwick deftly explains how ideas of natural history were embedded in cultural history. . . . Reading Rudwick’s prose is a pleasure.”

Nature

“An engaging read for nonscientists and specialists alike, this book pleasingly illustrates how we came to know more about our world and the many people who played a part in that.”

Library Journal

“Rudwick serves up . . . a wonderfully erudite and absorbing account of the spasmodic progress of chronological earth science.”

Times Literary Supplement

“Earth’s Deep History tells the story, not of the earth itself – that can be found in modern textbooks – but rather, the story of how ‘natural philosophers’ developed the ideas of geology accepted today. . . . This book is exhaustive in its survey of past geological and paleontological scholarship, and very detailed, but eminently readable and engaging. . . . This is a fascinating story of the development of this exciting branch of science.”

San Francisco Book Review

“Any book on the history of the earth sciences by Rudwick  is worth reading immediately, and this may be one of his best.  This volume is a detailed narrative of the construction of the historical framework of earth history.  It is not a standard recitation of authors, dates, and publications, but a conceptual journey starting in the 17th century.  The primary thesis is that the foundations of our modern chronology were built very early by thinkers not conventionally placed in our pantheon of heroic scientists (Archbishop James Ussher is a notable example).  These early works “pre-adapted” later generations to think in broad historical terms, eventually developing histories that long precede humanity. Indeed, the book of Genesis itself may have provided the first conceptual model for a natural history.  The popular ‘science versus religion’ theme in the origin of geology has been exaggerated for many reasons on both sides, the author states.  Rudwick’s descriptions of the personalities and ideas in the development of ‘deep history’ are fascinating, well written, and novel.  His effective dismissal of ‘young Earth creationism’ in the appendix is classic. Essential.”

Choice

"Earth’s Deep History, a grand sweep from the 17th to the 21st century, is a thrilling story of discovery and debate, insight and interpretation.”

London Review of Books