Thanks for the perspective. Gould clearly has an axe to grind in some of his writings. As to him being more critical of Geike than hutton, he has a LOT more to

Thanks for the perspective. Gould clearly has an axe to grind in some of his writings. As to him being more critical of Geike than hutton, he has a LOT more to say about hutton in the referenced book. I didn't want to be too inflammatory but Gould has no such compunction in "Time's Arrow". He mostly criticizes Hutton for relying on metaphor and being reactionary to the catastrophists. He does not reject him out of hand though. I think it's important to be able to criticize important figures in any fields history while recognizing the good that came from their disruption of the field. You can come to the right conclusion for the wrong reasons. In such cases it's natural to reject the conclusion as wrong, or to recast your morals to see the reason as right depending on your world view. Both are obstacles to scientific thought.