Significance of Catastrophist v. Uniformitarian

In the early days when the process of extinction was largely just a theory, scientists came down on two sides of the issue as for as its cause. William Whewell was a British geologist in the early 19th century. He coined the phrase “catastrophist” which described a scientist who believe that catastrophes were behind extinctions. On the other side of the issue, there was the “uniformitarian” who believed that the state of the Earth and all its inhabitants were the result of a slow process that brought about change in a gradual almost imperceptible manner. They, in fact, believed that change was so rare and slight that much of changes that occurred were virtually invisible and unnoticed by the common man.