Dr. Brown spent several years studying geology. His background in engineering gave him a strong grasp of the math and physics involved in geological processes. He found that while geologists are skilled at describing what they see, most don’t pause to figure out the mechanics and the feasibility of their theories. They talk about long periods of time and think that the sheer amount of time glosses over the mechanical difficulties of what they are describing. They don’t concentrate on energy, forces, causes, and effects. But Dr. Brown brought a fresh mindset to his study of geology. He thought as an engineer, a mathematician firmly grounded in physics.
There is also a not-so-subtle arrogance in the entrenched geology establishment. They resent an “outsider” intruding in their field. This sounds similar to the criticism that Lord Kelvin received when he waded into the geological age controversy with the geologists of his day. Interestingly, the founders of modern geology, men who have contributed greatly to conventional geological thinking, were not even trained as geologists.10
Since the 1800s, geologists have tried to rule out all global catastrophes. Actually, they were opposed to the Bible, but they didn’t want to seem closed-minded by disallowing only a global flood; so they ruled out all catastrophes. They proposed a principle of gradualism (uniformitarianism) that said only gradual processes going on today could tell us about the past. But by ignoring the possibility of a global catastrophe, they have stifled true study of the facts.