How did people cope with the knowledge that the Earth is not a mere six thousand years old, as the Bible suggests, but billions of years ancient?
The progress of science has steadily shattered the illusion of our exceptionalism in the universe: Copernicus pulled us away from its centre, Darwin made us simian and Freud unreasonable.
But in this history of our insignificance, one monumental discovery remains largely unknown: the geological realization that we dwell on an ancient planet. Not only are we unexceptional, but we are also remarkably new, like the fossils buried beneath our feet.
Caroline Winterer is a professor of history at Stanford University.