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 1033 Collections and/or Records:
Letters from Duncker & Humblot to Charles Lyell, 5 March 1867 - 5 March 1867
Letters relate to Lyell's works published in Germany:
1) Duncker announcing safe arrival of corrigenda and M.S at Cotta’s
2) Sum paid to Vieweg for translation
Carl von Cotta defended the concept of evolution and was a supporter of Lyell's principle of uniformitarianism however questioned Lyell's claim that earth was a fluctuation of eternally equal forces, noting the earth's historical development. Vieweg was a specialist German publisher.
Letters from Dunker, Dr. Wilhelm and Elise, to Charles Lyell, 17 May 1851 - 26 November 1852
Summarised by Lyell as:
1) Dunker presents Palaeontographica
2)[? Phillippa] going to Chili, Dunker sent 2 Journals - Bound of Palaeontogr. on Brown Coal
Wilhelm Dunker founded the journal Palaeontographica in 1846. Letter is written from Elise, Dunker's cousin and wife, in German, to Lyell.
Letters from Dupont, Édouard François to Charles Lyell, 20 January 1865- 30 October 1872
Letters from Élie De Beaumont to Charles Lyell, 23 December 1834 - 12 June 1840
Summarised as 'Terminology', 'on translation of passage from [?Kogersin], 'on grouping upper marine and faluns', and 'acknowledging my [crossed out] extracts from his letters on metamorphoism - also on small decompostion of Alps proved by dilvu[ial?] scratches. One letter copied out [by Mary?].
Letters from Elwin, Whitwell to Charles Lyell, 4 March 1863
Summarised by Lyell as 'Brain in man and ape', and 'Owen's letter'.
Letters from Etheridge R, to Charles Lyell, November 1863 - 19 October 1874
Letters from Evans John, to Charles Lyell, 17 May 1862 - 18 October 1872
Letters from Ezquerra, Joaquín del Bayo, to Charles Lyell, 3 March 1851
Summarised by Lyell as on Tertiary fossils of Seville.