The age of the Earth has been a topic of debate for centuries. The Sumerians invented writing over 5,000 years ago, leading to estimates that the Earth has existed for at least that long. The Western Bible, regarded as truth by many at the time, suggested that the Earth was only 6,000 years old. However, some scholars challenged this view, arguing that the slow changes observed in natural phenomena indicated that the Earth was much older.
In 1749, French scientist Georges-Louis estimated that the Earth had taken at least 75,000 years to reach its current state based on various natural phenomena. In 1715, Edmond Halley calculated the age of the Earth by examining the salt content brought into the oceans by rivers. Assuming that seawater was originally fresh, he estimated that it took about 1 billion years for the oceans to become as salty as they are today. This hypothesis was an idealized calculation that overlooked many random factors, leading to significant discrepancies with reality. In fact, rocks from 1 billion years ago are abundant on Earth, and in 1931, rocks dating back 2 billion years were discovered, with even older rocks, around 3.8 billion years old, found in Greenland.
Today, scientists have determined the Earth's age to be approximately 4.6 billion years through the study of radioactive decay and by measuring the content of radioactive elements in rocks.
