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 Haeckel, Ernest to Charles Lyell, 27 November 1868
Letters from Haidinger, Wilhelm Karl Ritter von to Charles Lyell, 8 February 1862
Letters from Haldeman, Samuel Stehman to Charles Lyell, November 1841 - 14 March 1842
Letters from Hale, C.S. to Charles Lyell, 19 December 1846
Summarised as on the Delta of the Alabama River. Includes hand drawn map of the delta of Alabama River. Regards from Hale's wife to Mary Lyell.
Letters from Hall, Captain Basil to Charles Lyell, 14 August 1834
Temple of Serapis (includes small sketch) 14th August 1834 - Mentions another sketch to be sent to Lyell of the three columns of the Temple of Jupiter Serapis and a full account of what he observed there.
Letters from Hall, James to Charles Lyell, 28 December 1842 - 24 October 1869
Summarised as Ontario Land Beach, Taconie System, [Benapts?] Mountain near Hudson, Rogers abandons organic nature of remains found by him, Lochport Icthyodorulite 3ft long, De Veiuneil's Sharpe and E Forbes on Silurian fossil, requesting criticims of footmarks and tracks, Gypsum Man.
Letters from Hamilton, William John to Charles Lyell, 12 January 1856
Summarised as on Wollaston Medal.
Letters from Harcourt, William Vernon to Charles Lyell, 3 February 1832
Limestone of Berwick
Letters from Harding, Ebenezer Fitch to Charles Lyell, 30 October 1850
Letters from Harkness, Robert to Charles Lyell, 1 October 1855 - 29 January 1873
Letters contain:
Sidlaw and Strathmore section map sketch in,
Bridge of Allan to Callender section map sketch in,
Loose yellow geological specimens relating to Moel Tryfan geology relates to letter 5th April 1864 "a considerable quantity of flint-chips among the shell beds two of which I send you"
Criticims of Antiquity of Man.