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:
Notes for paper on Sections of Isla, [Melgus], Prosen and South Esk, c1822-1824
Notes for a paper on sections of Isla, [Melges], Prosen and South Esk containing information from publications and other scientists about rock types in Forfarshire. c1822-1824.
Notes of numbers of shells on the Island of Madeira, 1856
Notes of numbers of shells on the island of Madeira, 1856.
Notes on Canaries & Madeira with Hartung, May - June 1855
Notes - including sketches - of a visit to the Canary Isles and Madeira with Georg Hartung, to look at the geological formations caused by volcanoes on the islands. TNotes on trip to Lanzarote and Fuerteventura with James Tennant to look at minerals. Index of notes on Madeira & the Canaries with G. Hartung. May-June 1855 - also refers to page numbers in Notebook 203.
Notes on Devilles' paper and index, 1856
Notes on Devilles' paper with index to it, 1856.
Notes on extinct and extant shells on the Islands of Porto Santo and Madeira, 28 March 1856
Notes on the numbers of fossil species [of shell] which are found in the islands of Porto Santo and Madeira giving details of the number of extinct and extant species on both islands and the total of shells in each category which are common to both islands and drawing inferences from these figures in terms of how these numbers came to be, 28 March 1856.
Notes on Grand Canary & Madeira, Porta Santa shells and lists of shells, 30 November 1855
Notes on shells and fossils, 30 November 1855, headed with the title 'Brit[ish] Museum' indicating they were observed there, rather than on the island itself.
Notes on Madeira, October-November 1855
Original packaging marks this bundle as 'H; '4' C. Lyell's notes with G. Hartung Oct 1855, Nov. and with large letters 'CL'. Text includes notes, queries, itinerary of trip, reference to Notebook 185, in sections by topic e.g. Dikes, with sketches and diagrams throughout. October-November 1855.
Notes on Madeira, October-November 1855
Original packaging marked '6''C. Lyell Notes on Madeira Oct[ober] - Nov[ember] 1855
4 points stated:
1. Rain washing down red clay [?Po. Cadro Antonio]
2. Slickenside Laterite Lava
3. Drivers book lent by Wollaston notes from
4. Intrusion lava, Giran [sic Girão].
Also, Index to Hartung's MS on Madeira. October-November 1855.
Notes on numbers of shells in Porto Santo and Madeira excluding the Desertes, 1856
Notes on numbers of shells, both extinct and extant, in Porto Santo and Madeira with percentages of the total, 1856.
Notes on sandstone and alluvium, c1822-1824
Notes relating to the way in which sandstone and alluvium beds have been formed in the geology of the Cortachy and Prosen areas of Forfarshire and notes relating to Sir Charles Lyell's disagreement concerning Sir Fleming's reasoning about alluvial hills near Arbroath, c1822-1824.