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 1035 Collections and/or Records:
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.
Notes on specimens collected in Forfarshire, c1822-1824
Numbered list of locations where Sir Charles Lyell collected rock samples, c1822-1824. Empty packaging, plus pages torn from a notebook recording locations.
Notes Porto Santo Beach shells, and Grand Canary, 3-7 December 1855
Notes titled 'Brit[ish] Museum indicating shells were held there.
Lists of shells found on a beach on Porto Santo, also notes where else they are found or whether extinct.
Grand Canary shells including lists that are extinct and extant, 3-7 December 1855.
Notes relating to fossil shell species, 4 May [1856]
Notes relating to North African and South European species of fossil shells, 4 May [1856].
Offprints
Lyell's collection of offprints take three formats: one set of bound offprints; one A-Z set of small A5 size offprints; and one set of larger A-Z A4 size offprints. The set of bound offprints are known to relate to Lyell's Index notebooks, reference Coll-203/A5
On the Geological Structure of the Madeiran Islands, 1856
On the Geological Structure of the Madeiran Islands by Sir Charles Lyell and Georg Hartung which is a summary of their observations during a visit to the Madeiran Islands in the winter of 1853-1854 and to three Canary islands, La Palma, Teneriffe and Grand Canary, in the Spring of 1854, with diagrams, 1856.