catastrophism

American  

[kuh-tas-truh-fiz-uhm] / kəˈtæs trəˌfɪz əm /

noun

Geology.

1. the doctrine that certain vast geological changes in the earth's history were caused by catastrophes rather than gradual evolutionary processes.

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catastrophism British  

/ kəˈtæstrəˌfɪzəm /

noun

1. an old doctrine, now discarded, that the earth was created and has subsequently been shaped by sudden divine acts which have no logical connection with each other rather than by gradual evolutionary processes

2. Also called: neo-catastrophism.  a modern doctrine that the gradual evolutionary processes shaping the earth have been supplemented in the past by the effects of huge natural catastrophes Compare uniformitarianism gradualism

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catastrophism Cultural  

1. A theory holding that changes in the Earth take place swiftly and irreversibly. (Contrast gradualism.)

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Discover More

A belief in Noah's flood is one version of catastrophism.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• catastrophist
  noun

Etymology

Origin of catastrophism

First recorded in 1865–70; catastrophe + -ism

Explanation

Catastrophism is the theory that most changes to the Earth's crust happened because of major events. No matter how cool it would be to see a mountain form, according to this theory, you wouldn't be around to watch. Catastrophism was first proposed by the French scientist Georges Cuvier in the early 1800s. His work was done before a lot of important discoveries about geology, evolution, and the fossil record, so his original theories aren't used anymore. But the idea of sudden events that have massive effects on Earth and its species is still used sometimes in different ways, and that's sometimes called neocatastrophism. Catastrophism is contrasted with uniformitarianism or gradualism, the idea that slow incremental changes have shaped Earth's past.

Example Sentences

Catastrophism was particularly comforting to clerics like Buckland because it allowed them to incorporate the biblical flood of Noah into serious scientific discussions.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

I shall call one of them Catastrophism, another Uniformitarianism, the third Evolutionism; and I shall try briefly to sketch the characters of each, that you may say whether the classification is, or is not, exhaustive.

From Lay Sermons, Addresses and Reviews by Huxley, Thomas Henry

Lyell, in his frequent visits to the continent, became a friend of the illustrious Cuvier, whose strong bias for Catastrophism was so forcibly shown in his writings and conversation.

From The Coming of Evolution The Story of a Great Revolution in Science by John W.

But these great geological pioneers, almost without exception, maintained the Wernerian doctrines and were firm adherents of Catastrophism.

From The Coming of Evolution The Story of a Great Revolution in Science by John W.

Catastrophism is a corollary of it: if there were no imperfection there could be no advance.

From The Unpopular Review, Number 19 July-December 1918 by Various