The structure of geology / Структурная геология

Geologists have long maintained that their discipline differs strikingly from chemistry and physics in being historical. There has been almost no explicit consideration by geologists, however, of the particular methodological problems imposed by the historical dimension. Historians and philosophers, on the other hand, have considered the problems of historical method at great length, and in recent years there has been, it seems, an increased interest in the methodology and philosophy of history. It is my purpose here to consider the extent to whieh the issues raised in recent discussions of explanation in human history are pertinent to the problem of explanation in historical geology. Because paleontology presents special methodological problems that I shall later discuss in detail (see pp. 148-70), Ihave omitted at this point any consideration of geological explanations containing paleontological concepts. <...>