The uniformitarian principle first gained major support by the scientific community because of .

a james hutton's
b charles lyell's
c niels stensen's
d leondardo da vinci's

b Charles Lyell's

Explanation:

The  uniformitarianism principle was first expressed by a Scottish geologist known as James Hutton. He observed that the present is the key to the past. The principle explained that the same geological process that shaped the earth in the past still account for the present geologic change. Hutton tried to explain that the history of the earth can be known from the present phenomenon or process that take place on the earth. He gave Illustration on how the soil is been formed from the weathering of rocks. This principle is the fundamental of geology.

The principle received so many backlash from notable scientist and it also  contradicted the widely accepted Biblical believe. Charles Lyell's a Scottish geologist later published a work on earth history applying Hutton's principle and this made Hutton principle gained huge popularity among the science community.