Catastrophism is the idea that Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events. Catastrophes, possibly worldwide in scope, came between long periods of quiet inactivity. This was called 'catastrophism' by William Whewell in 1837.
Catastrophes were thought to be the main cause of the changes seen in the record of the rocks and fossils. This record appeared to show that the Earth had suffered occasional gigantic upheavals in what was otherwise a quiet planet.
Supporting this view was the greatest comparative anatomist and palaeontologist of the early 19th century. He was Georges Cuvier, Director of the Muséum national d'histoire naturelle in Paris. Cuvier had shown that extinction of species had definitely taken place. His catastrophism was an explanation for the regular changes in species seen in the rock strata. He had no real explanation of why later species were different from earlier ones. He rejected the idea of evolution, but did not propose a religious solution.