[Virginia-American]

The idea that the earth was older than 6-10 thousand years starting taking shape in the later 1700's and early 1800's. Before that time, it was assumed that that the Earth was 6-10 thousand years old

A sligh quibble. This was so only in Christian (and, AFAIK, Muslim) countries. The Hindus believe in a **much** older universe than science does.

[CarolinaGuitarman]

Well, yeah, they believed in an oscillating universe come to think of it. But I was talking about countries whose religions were based on the Bible. I was arguing against the contention that idea of a young earth arose about the same time that Darwin came onto the scene. That is of course the opposite of what happened.