'Stable equilibrium is death': Henry Adams, Sir Charles Lyell, and the paradox of progress

Henry Adams' criticism of Charles Lyell's uniformitarianism stemmed from his frustrations with Victorian society. Victorian society and Lyell, particularly, believed in the rationalityof the forces controlling human and natural history and resisted any evidence of a random and chaotic universe. Thus, Adams concentrated on catastrophism andmodern science to help himself during the difficult transition to the modern era.