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Lyell, Sir Charles, 1797-1875 (1st Baronet | Scottish geologist)

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 14 November 1797 - 22 February 1875

Biography

Charles Lyell Project - 2020

Biography

Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) wrote many geological papers, mainly published by the Geological Society of London (1807-present day), but his reputation rests almost entirely on his work Principles of Geology, ( 1830-1833) inspired in part by a European tour with Sir Roderick Impey Murchison and also his knowledge of James Hutton's Theory of the Earth. In this work, first published in three volumes, Lyell propounded his theory of uniformitarianism, which holds that all geological formations can be explianed solely in terms of natural processes which can be observed in operation today. This ran counter to the prevailing theory which assumed that mountain-building and other geological phenomena could only have occurred as a result of major cataclysmic events in the past. Lyell's uniformitarianism was developed in order to reject the progressionism implicit in the prevailing theory, which he saw as leading to evolution, an idea which he strongly opposed. Ironically, Lyell's opposition to evolution brought the idea to scientists' attention and the vast time scales required by uniformitarianism enabled Darwin to conceive of his version of evolutionary theory. Lyell's other works include: The Elements of Geology, ( 1837) Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man, ( 1863-1873).

Charles Lyell's father was an active naturalist, and Lyell had access to an elaborate library which included works on geology. Whilst at Oxford University he attended lectures by William Buckland, professor of geology, that triggered his enthusiasm for the subject. He became more and more interested in the subject and made many geological tours with his family in England and Scotland in 1817, and on the Continent the following year, the first of many trips abroad. In 1828 he explored the volcanic region of the Auvergne, then went to Mount Etna to gather supporting evidence for the theory of geology he would expound in his Principles of Geology . He also made numerous tours of the United States, described in Travels in North America, ( 1909) . His writings deal with the rock cycle, which explains how one type of rock is transformed into another. Lyell also expounds notions on volcanic forces, deposition, erosion and palaeontology in his writings. His work helped to establish the modern study of geology and geologic time. In addition to rock formation, he also wrote about palaeontology. It was Lyell who proposed the idea of reference fossils - fossils which are indicative of certain periods of geologic time. He divided geologic time into four periods: Pleistocene, Older Pliocene, Miocene and Eocene. His final work, The Antiquity of Man, ( 1863) , was a wide-ranging study of the human fossil record. In this work Lyell finally accepted Darwinian evolution, but still tried to insist that there was a radical discontinuity between humankind and the rest of the animal kingdom.

In 1823 Lyell was appointed secretary of the Geological Society of London, and 3 years later they made him their foreign secretary. He was twice President in 1836 and 1850. Lyell was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826. He was awarded a Royal Medal in 1834 and the Copley Medal in 1858 and in 1866 he was awarded the Wollaston Medal. In 1832 he was the first professor of geology at King's College, London, and became President of the British Association in 1864.

Found in 7 Collections and/or Records:

Draft manuscript concerning the geology of Madeira with index, June 1856

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/2/folio(s) 301-460
Scope and Contents

Draft manuscript concerning the geology of Madeira with index. Topics covered include: Size and structure of Madeira, Scoriaeceous formations, Fossil remains of 3 periods which are to be found on Madeira, Lavas, Successive eruptions. June 1856. Folio 399-412 is a notebook of drawings by JB [Joanna Baillie] Horner.

Dates: June 1856

Etna. Discourse on the eruption of 1755, 1850s

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/8
Scope and Contents

Chronology of the eruption of Etna in the spring and summer of 1755 with an eye witness account, 1850s.

Dates: 1850s

Index to Madeira Manuscript, 23 April 1856

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/2/folio(s) 240-300
Scope and Contents

Draft of manuscript relating to Madeira in which Lyell uses the knowledge gained from his visit to Madeira to prove that the structure of Madeira is due to a series of recurring eruptions, includes diagrams. Topics covered include: the Size of Madeira, Whether there is submarine scoriae in the centre of the island, Limestone and Miocene beds of S. Vicente Basaltic Lavas, (23 April 1856).

Dates: 23 April 1856

Lava flow at Messina, Sicily, 9 November 1857

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/2
Scope and Contents

Document written by Sir Charles Lyell at Messina on the Island of Sicily describing his visit there in the autumn of 1857. The bulk of the document is spent describing the way lava flows down both steep and gentle slopes and specifically discusses the lava flow resulting from the 9 month long eruption of 1852/3. In addition he discusses the formation of the Val del Bove, 9 November 1857.

Dates: 9 November 1857

Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro, 25 March 1858

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/17
Scope and Contents Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro in answer to a previous letter sent by Lyell. He apologises for not being able to answer Lyell's questions as he has been ill and promises that he will return to Aci to try to detect Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen's mistakes as to what Mercurio says on the eruption of 1852. He mentions carboniferous soil in Sicily, local units of measurement and lava flow on the island. He also thanks Lyell for sending a printed abstract of the...
Dates: 25 March 1858

Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Henry Edward Bunbury, 4 February 1857

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/13
Scope and Contents

Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Henry Edward Bunbury regarding the eruption of Mount Etna on the 29 March 1809. He mentions volcanic activity on Etna prior to the eruption in the form of vents in the earth which issues steam and flames and that the volcano sent up jets of water during the eruption which, when falling on the lava flows, resulted in a series of explosions, 4 February 1857.

Dates: 4 February 1857

Notes and Correspondence on the geology of Mount Etna, 1857-1858

 Series — Box Lyell Temp Box 1.21 (Formerly Gen 118): Series Coll-203/2 (Lyell 2); Series Coll-203/3 (Lyell 3); Series Coll-203/4 (Lyell 4)
Identifier: Coll-203/4 (Lyell 4)
Scope and Contents

Notes and correspondence on the geology of Mount Etna consists of:


  1. Notes
  2. Sketches and Maps
  3. Geological Cross sections
  4. Correspondence
Dates: 1857-1858