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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 60 Collections and/or Records:

Addresses and Speeches, c. 1850s - 1870s

 Series — Box Lyell Temp Box 3.12: Series Coll-203/B14; Series Coll-203/B15
Identifier: Coll-203/B15
Scope and Contents Series of printed addresses given by Charles Lyell, including: 1) Printed Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society of London, 15th Feb 1850 and awarding Wollaston Medal to Peter Hopkins. Unopened. 2) Printed Address delivered at the Anniversary Meeting of the Geological Society of London, 21st Feb 1851 and awarding Wollaston Medal to Adam Sedgwick. Unopened. 3) Manuscript speech delivered by Lyell at the [New York City] Crystal Palace Banquet,...
Dates: c. 1850s - 1870s

Correspondence: Joseph Wilson Lowry to HR Mill, 1839-1909

 Sub-Series
Identifier: Coll-74/12/14
Scope and Contents

The Correspondence: Joseph Wilson Lowry to HR Mill sub-series consists of:


  1. 35 letters, alphabetically arranged (1839-1909)
Dates: 1839-1909

Correspondence to Charles Lyell, A-Z 1927 tranche , 1831-1873

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Coll-203/1 (Lyell 1)
Scope and Contents This series of correspondence is arranged alphabetically, A-Z, including one ‘Miscellaneous’ section within the 'M' series. Each correspondent has been assigned a file number – there may be several folders within that file, evidencing the longevity and depth of the relationship between Lyell and the correspondent - for example his brother in law Charles Bunbury.Lyell himself, Mary or Arabella Buckley have mostly recorded a summary of the contents of the correspondence, either on the...
Dates: 1831-1873

Correspondence to Sir Archibald Geikie: Alexander Henry Green to Edward Townley Hardman, 1855-1901

 Sub-Series
Identifier: Coll-74/11/20
Scope and Contents

The Correspondence to Sir Archibald Geikie: Alexander Henry Green to Edward Townley Hardman sub-series consists of:


  1. 32 letters, alphabetically arranged (1855-1901)
  2. 2 letters from Valentine Ball (1894)
Dates: 1855-1901

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

Geological notes, c 1850

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/2/folio(s) 41

Geology of Vesuvius and Etna extracted from the letters of Charles Lyell, September and October 1858

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/26
Scope and Contents Material relating to the geology of Mount Vesuvius in Southern Italy and Mount Etna in Sicily as extracted from the letters of Sir Charles Lyell, written during a visit to the area in September and October 1858. He discusses several geological formations in the mountains and occasionally gives sketches to illustrate his points. He also mentions: that he has received a list of shells from the Pliocene clay on which Mount Etna is placed which he hopes will provide a precise paleontological...
Dates: September and October 1858

Grande Canaria, 1855

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/2/folio(s) 185-196
Scope and Contents

Handwritten article on the geology of Grande [sic Gran] Canaria and the way in which the rocks were formed. Seeming to be a summary of Lyell's observations while on the island, 1855 - it is not in his handwriting, and is perhaps written by Mary Lyell, or Georg Hartung.

Dates: 1855

Lectures on Geology, 1832-1833

 Series — Multiple Containers
Identifier: Coll-203/8 (Lyell 8)
Scope and Contents

Lectures on geology consists of:


  1. manuscript lecture notes for lectures given at King's College London and the Royal Institution and a printed programme for a series of lectures given at King's College London in 1833 (1832-1833).
Dates: 1832-1833

Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro, 21 May 1858

 Item
Identifier: Coll-203/4/22
Scope and Contents

Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro replying to earlier letters from Lyell to the Gemmellaro family containing questions relating to the geology of Mount Etna. Gemmellaro diagrees with Lyell that the pressure of subsequent layers of lava depress those beneath, with sketch, and mentions the geographical locations of certain features with respect to the map of Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen which Gemmellaro feels to be accurate, 21 May 1858.

Dates: 21 May 1858