Encyclopedia of quaternary science / Энциклопедия наук о четвертичном периоде

The great 19th-century geologist and natural historian, Charles Lyell (1830), is generally credited as being the author of the concept of Uniformitarianism (see History of Quaternary Science). Simply stated, this concept says that ‘‘the present is the key to the past.’’ In other words, we may interpret the ancient history of the planet through our understanding of modern-day processes. This concept represented a major step forward in scientific thought, greatly influencing contemporary scientists, such as Charles Darwin (see History of Quaternary Science). However, in this article I hope to make it clear that the reverse of Lyell’s concept is equally true: the past is the key to the present. In other words, a knowledge of the past is key to our understanding of the present world, especially in the multiple disciplines known as the environmental sciences. No matter which aspect of the environment one considers, be it the atmosphere, the oceans, the cryosphere, the lithosphere, or the biosphere, it is impossible to fully comprehend modern processes and conditions without a knowledge of the past. To try to understand present-day environments without a knowledge of their Quaternary history would be like trying to understand the plot of a long novel by reading only the last page. <...>