Measuring Time with Fossils: A Start-Up Problem in Scientific Practice

Abstract

This article is about a start-up problem in scientific practice. Specifically, it is about the problem of justifying paleontological correlation—the practice of using fossils to establish time relations among fossiliferous rocks. Paleontological correlation was the key to assembling a geological timescale during the nineteenth century and remains an important practice in stratigraphic geology to this day. Yet contrary to philosophical expectations, this practice lacked a robust theoretical justification during the first half of the nineteenth century. This article examines what this lack of justification amounted to, as well as how the method of paleontological correlation was justified in practice.

What is Philosophy of the Geosciences?

“…6 If scientists' access to the measurement process is reliant on theory, it becomes harder to avoid vicious circularity and underdetermination. Perhaps not all geoscientific measurements are theory-dependent in one or both of the senses sketched above (Dresow, 2021b), but such problems occur more frequently given persistent inaccessibility.…”