This is a Special Edition of Real Science Radio!
Related excerpt from a 2011 RSR program:
On the history of geology... and the history of the world's oldest national scientific organization, the Geological Society of London. Terry Mortenson, with a PhD in the history of geology from Coventry University in England, has an excellent article Where Did the Idea of "Millions of Years" Come From? that reports on the young-earth flood geology view that prevailed before Charles Lyell. An article on the Geological Society's website, God and the Geologists, states that a book, Geology and Religion, published to coincide with the Society's 200th anniversary, summarizes the modern history of geology saying that: "A prominent topic is that of ‘Flood Geology’. Originating alongside geology itself in the 18th Century, the theory held that the current geological features of the Earth have resulted from a global flood, as described in the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark. The theory was a popular one for centuries... Now, however, flood geology is undergoing resurgence as part of the increasingly prevalent creationist movement."