I sort of got the impression it was static as a kid as that's how all the books were written. I think its changing nature is a relatively recent discovery. I remember a lot of debate as to whether a meteor could have done for the dinosaurs because people were skeptical that sort of stuff happened but it turns out chunks of rock smashing into planets is quite common and basically how they got here. I also got the impression Earth was more unchanging than it is. It was a surprise to find you could walk from England to France 10,000 years ago or so.