This book deals with reactions to geological discoveries in early nineteenth-century England. How did theologians cope with new scientific evidence of the antiquity of the world which was contrary to accepted biblical chronology? And what repercussions did this picture have on philosophers poets and novelists?

The first part of the book concentrates on Charles Lyell's religious and scientific views. This is followed by a study of William Buckland, Adam Sedgwick and William Whewell, three clergymen who were also geologists. The last section explores the literary reception of the revolutionary discoveries of Lyell and his contemporaries.