Editing James Hutton (section)

==Early life and career==
Hutton was born in [[Edinburgh]] on 3 June O.S.<ref>{{Cite web |title=James Hutton (1726-1797) |url=https://www.edinburghgeolsoc.org/edinburghs-geology/geological-pioneers/james-hutton/ |access-date=2023-12-29 |website=Edinburgh Geological Society |language=en-GB}}</ref> 1726, as one of five children of Sarah Balfour and William Hutton, a merchant who was Edinburgh City Treasurer. Hutton's father died in 1729, when he was three.

He was educated at the [[Royal High School (Edinburgh)|High School of Edinburgh]] where he was particularly interested in [[mathematics]] and [[chemistry]], then when he was 14 he attended the [[University of Edinburgh]] as a "student of humanity", studying the [[classics]]. He was apprenticed to the lawyer George Chalmers [[Writer to the Signet|WS]] when he was 17, but took more interest in chemical experiments than legal work. At the age of 18, he became a physician's assistant, and attended lectures in medicine at the University of Edinburgh.

After a two-year stay in Paris, James Hutton arrived in Leiden in 1749, where he enrolled at the University of Leiden on 14 August 1749, at the home of the then rector magnificus Joachim Schwartz to obtain a doctorate in medicine. He stayed with the widow Van der Tas (née Judith Bouvat) at the Langebrug, which corresponds to the current address Langebrug 101 in Leiden. His supervisor was Professor Frederik Winter, who was not only a professor at Leiden University, but also court physician to the Stadholder. The Latin manuscript of Hutton's dissertation also contained 92 theses, two of which were successfully defended in public by James Hutton on 3 September 1749. On 12 September 1749, James Hutton obtained his doctorate in medicine from Leiden University with a physico-medical thesis entitled ''Sanguine et Circulatione Microcosmi.'' The thesis was printed by Wilhelmus Boot, book printer in Leiden. It is believed that James Hutton returned to Britain shortly after his promotion.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Schuchmann |first=J.B. |title=James Hutton's stay in Leiden (1749) |publisher=Leidse Geologische Vereniging |year=2023 |isbn=9789090365442 |edition=1st |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |pages=1–86 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="Dean">{{harvnb|Dean|1992}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

After his degree Hutton went to London, then in mid-1750 returned to Edinburgh and resumed chemical experiments with close friend, John Davie. Their work on production of [[ammonium chloride|sal ammoniac]] from [[soot]] led to their partnership in a profitable chemical works,<ref name=Dean/>{{rp|2}} manufacturing the crystalline salt which was used for dyeing, metalworking and as smelling salts and had been available only from natural sources and had to be imported from [[Egypt]]. Hutton owned and rented out properties in Edinburgh, employing a factor to manage this business.<ref name=ent1>{{cite web |url=http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/Entrepreneur/Frameset.htm |title=Business and Related Interests |access-date=3 August 2019 |publisher=James Hutton.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726201516/http://www.james-hutton.org/One/Entrepreneur/Frameset.htm|archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref>

===Farming and geology===
Hutton inherited from his father the [[Berwickshire]] farms of ''Slighhouses'', a lowland farm which had been in the family since 1713, and the hill farm of ''Nether Monynut''.<ref name=Dean/>{{rp|2&ndash;3}} In the early 1750s he moved to ''Slighhouses'' and set about making improvements, introducing farming practices from other parts of Britain and experimenting with plant and animal husbandry.<ref name=Dean/>{{rp|2&ndash;3}} He recorded his ideas and innovations in an unpublished treatise on ''The Elements of Agriculture''.<ref name=Dean/>{{rp|60}}
[[File:Slighhouses.jpg|thumb|Front entrance to Hutton's farm Slighhouses.   Location: {{Coord| 55.82675| -2.28586|display=inline|name=slighhouses}}]]

This developed his interest in [[meteorology]] and geology. In a 1753 letter he wrote that he had "become very fond of studying the surface of the earth, and was looking with anxious curiosity into every pit or ditch or bed of a river that fell in his way". Clearing and draining his farm provided ample opportunities. The mathematician [[John Playfair]] described Hutton as having noticed that "a vast proportion of the present rocks are composed of materials afforded by the destruction of bodies, animal, vegetable and mineral, of more ancient formation". His theoretical ideas began to come together in 1760. While his farming activities continued, in 1764 he went on a geological tour of the north of Scotland with George Maxwell-Clerk,<ref name=f&g>{{cite web |url=http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/Geology/Scr_Main.htm |title=Farming and Hutton the Geologist |access-date=3 August 2019 |publisher=James Hutton.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726201817/http://www.james-hutton.org/One/Geology/Scr_Main.htm|archive-date=26 July 2011 }}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=q8gEAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22materials+afforded+by+the+destruction+of+bodies%2C+animal%2C+vegetable+and+mineral%2C+of+more+ancient+formation%22&pg=PA56 Playfair]</ref> ancestor of the famous [[James Clerk Maxwell]].<ref>{{cite book | title = The Life of James Clerk Maxwell | author = Campbell, Lewis |author2=Garnett, William | year = 1882 | publisher = Macmillan and Company | location = London | page = [https://archive.org/details/lifejamesclerkm01garngoog/page/n50 18] | url = https://archive.org/details/lifejamesclerkm01garngoog| quote = hutton George Clerk Maxwell. }}</ref>

===Edinburgh and canal building===
In 1768, Hutton returned to Edinburgh, letting his farms to tenants but continuing to take an interest in farm improvements and research which included experiments carried out at ''Slighhouses''. He developed a red dye made from the roots of the [[Rubia|madder]] plant.<ref name=ag5>{{cite web |url=http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/Agronomy/05.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908110326/http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/Agronomy/05.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 September 2012 |title=Return to Edinburgh |access-date=11 April 2008 |publisher=James Hutton.org.uk }}</ref>

He had a house built in 1770 at St John's Hill, Edinburgh, overlooking [[Salisbury Crags]]. This later became the Balfour family home and, in 1840, the birthplace of the psychiatrist [[James Crichton-Browne]]. Hutton was one of the most influential participants in the [[Scottish Enlightenment]], and fell in with numerous first-class minds in the sciences including mathematician [[John Playfair]], philosopher [[David Hume]] and economist [[Adam Smith]].<ref name=soc1>{{cite web |url=http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/SocialContext/Frameset.htm |title=Hutton's Contemporaries and The Scottish Enlightenment |access-date=3 August 2019 |publisher=James Hutton.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726201921/http://www.james-hutton.org/One/SocialContext/Frameset.htm|archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref> Hutton held no position in the University of Edinburgh  and communicated his scientific findings through the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]]. He was particularly friendly with physician and chemist [[Joseph Black]], and together with Adam Smith they founded the ''Oyster Club'' for weekly meetings.

Between 1767 and 1774 Hutton had close involvement with the construction of the [[Forth and Clyde canal]], making full use of his geological knowledge, both as a shareholder and as a member of the committee of management, and attended meetings including extended site inspections of all the works. At this time he is listed as living on Bernard Street in [[Leith]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://digital.nls.uk/directories/browse/archive/83036831|title=Williamson's directory for the City of Edinburgh, Canongate, Leith and suburbs|date=1773–1774|website=[[National Library of Scotland]]|page=36|access-date=2 December 2017}}</ref> In 1777 he published a pamphlet on ''Considerations on the Nature, Quality and Distinctions of Coal and Culm'' which successfully helped to obtain relief from excise duty on carrying small coal.<ref name=ent2>{{cite web |url=http://www.james-hutton.org.uk/One/Entrepreneur/02.htm |title=The Forth and Clyde Canal |access-date=3 August 2019 |publisher=James Hutton.org.uk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726202004/http://www.james-hutton.org/One/Entrepreneur/02.htm|archive-date=26 July 2011 }}</ref>

In 1783, he was a joint founder of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]].<ref name=":0">{{cite book|title=Biographical Index of Former Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh 1783–2002|date=July 2006|publisher=The Royal Society of Edinburgh|isbn=0-902-198-84-X|url=https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|access-date=21 November 2016|archive-date=24 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130124115814/http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>