Framework of time
One of geology’s greatest philosophical contributions has been the demonstration of the enormity of geologic time. Astronomers deal with distances so great that they are almost beyond understanding; nuclear physicists study objects so small that we can hardly imagine them. Similarly, the geologist is concerned with spans of time so immense that they are scarcely comprehensible. Geology is a science of time as well as rocks, and in our geologic story of the Teton region we must refer frequently to the geologic time scale, the yardstick by which we measure the vast reaches of time in earth history.