Lyell, Sir Charles, 1797-1875 (1st Baronet | Scottish geologist)
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 45 Collections and/or Records:
Etna. Discourse on the eruption of 1755, 1850s
Chronology of the eruption of Etna in the spring and summer of 1755 with an eye witness account, 1850s.
Geological Miscellany, 1857
Printed extract from Wolfgang Sartorius Von Waltershausen's Atlas of Etna, note regarding Junghahn's treatment of the double cones of Java and geological sketch of Colanna [presumably Etna], 1857.
Geology of Vesuvius and Etna extracted from the letters of Charles Lyell, September and October 1858
Il Balzo Di Aci, 28 September 1858
Drawing entitled 'Il Balzo Di Aci' of a town with hills in the background and a river or lake in the foreground. Inscription in Italian reads "Veluto dallo scalo di Signora Maria della Scala a 7 Aprile 1858. Carlo Gemmellaro quest' Atimo suo [ ]sequi, all'eta di anni 71. A Sir Charles Lyell in Catania", (28 Settembre 1858).
Index Book, Notes for paper on modern lavas of Vesuvius & Etna, January 1858
Introduced on page 1 as 'Note Book for paper on Etna & Vesuvius & structure of modern lavas. Refers to Scientific Notebooks 226-229, and then 230-231, with notes with page reference on the contents of these notebooks as well as to Lyell's reading on the subject amd drawings.
Lava flow at Messina, Sicily, 9 November 1857
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.
Letter to Leonard Horner from Sir Charles Lyell, 10 December 1857
Letter to Leonard Horner from Sir Charles Lyell discusing the internal structure of lava flows. Lyell also remarks on the probable nature of the additions to the core of Mount Vesuvius that had occurred that year, with illustrations, 10 December 1857.
Letter to Sir Charles Lyell from Carlo Gemmellaro, 21 May 1858
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.