Relative dating is the science of determining the relative order of past events (i.e., the age of an object in comparison to another), without necessarily determining their absolute age (i.e., estimated age). In geology, rock or superficial deposits, fossils and lithologies can be used to correlate one stratigraphic column with another. Prior to the discovery of radiometric dating in …

In the natural sciences, gradualism is the theory which holds that profound change is the cumulative product of slow but continuous processes, often contrasted with catastrophism.The theory was proposed in 1795 by James Hutton, a Scottish geologist, and was later incorporated into Charles Lyell's theory of uniformitarianism.Tenets from both theories were applied to …

Naturalism is "the idea or belief that nothing exists beyond the natural world". It is the belief that "the natural world is the whole of reality". The term was first used this way in English in 1750. It is a kind of philosophy called metaphysical, because it covers everything: "nature is all there is, and all basic truths are truths of nature".. All the things and powers which are commonly ...