Hutton's prose hindered his theories. John Playfair in 1802 restated of Huttton's geological ideas (though not his thoughts on evolution). Charles Lyell in the 1830s popularised the idea of an infinitely repeating cycle (of the erosion of rocks and the building up of sediment). Lyell believed in gradual change, and thought even Hutton gave too much credit to catastrophic changes. 