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.
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This notebook contains a record of the Lyell’s stay in Boston from 4th November to 3rd December 1845. The notes are comprised of discussions about politics and religion, supplemented by commentary about social life, in New England and the United States more broadly, plus field notes and observations about geology and natural history, encompassing descriptions and sketches of regions in anticipation of future field excursions (the Claiborne Formation). Charles visits notable sites in Boston...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from December 3, 1845 to December 12, 1845 upon leaving Boston and traveling to Philadelphia, with visits in New Haven, Connecticut and New York City, and further enroute to Washington, D.C. The notes are comprised of discussions about politics and religion, supplemented by commentary about social life, in New England and the United States more broadly, plus field notes, observations, and sketches concerned with geology and natural history,...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from December 13, 1845 to December 24th, 1845 while traveling through Washington, D.C., Richmond, Virginia, Wilmington, North Carolina, and en route to Charleston, South Carolina. The index is located in the back of the notebook on pages 115 and seven unumbered pages. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field sketches. An X is used to mark a pencil cross made at certain entries. A date written in the left margin has been inserted at the...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from December 25 1845 to January 2nd 1846 while traveling through Charleston (South Carolina), Savannah (Georgia), and Darien (Georgia). The index is located in the back of the notebook on pages 115 and nine unumbered pages. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field sketches. An X is used to mark a pencil cross made at certain entries. A date written in the left margin has been inserted at the beginning of the appropriate...
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Notebook No. 129 was kept by Lyell during his trip to America in 1845-6, mostly written in pencil, after his lecture tour, with visits to Hopeton Plantation, St. Simon's Island, and Georgia. It contains his observations while he visited several plantations worked by enslaved people extracted from undocumented regions of Africa, and bought at auction. Mr. and Mrs. Lyell stayed with James Hamilton Couper at Hopeton plantation for two weeks in January 1846. Couper was a member of the British...
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This red notebook contains a record of Charles Lyell’s visit to the United States of America (started in Notebook 121) recording his time spent around Georgia (Hopeton-on-the-Altamaha, Macon, Milledgeville, Savannah, Parramore Hill, Scottsboro, Gordon, and Upatoi creek) with detailed visits to Macon and the surrounding areas. It covers many diverse discussions covering topics of the everyday lives of slaves, slavery, abolition, religion, war, floral and faunal specimens, and geological...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from January 17 1846 to January 28 1846 while in the United States as part of the Lyells second trip. It contains notes from travels through Milledgeville (Georgia), Macon (Georgia), Columbus (Georgia), Chehaw (Georgia), and Montgomery (Alabama). The Lyells then board the steamer Amaranth from Montgomery, traveling to Mobile (Alabama). The index is located in the back of the notebook on pages 113-120. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from January 28 to February 6 1846 while traveling from Montgomery to Mobile (Alabama) via the Alabama River on the steamer Amaranth. He stops at Centerport and Clairborne, with overland excursions to Macon and Clarksville. He then continues his journey to Mobile on the Amaranth. The index is located in the back of the notebook on pages 113-115 and 6 uncounted pages. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field sketches. ...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from February 7th to February 20th, 1846 while traveling around the Mobile and Tuscaloosa areas of Alabama. The index is located in the back of the notebook on 10 uncounted pages with the final page pasted to the top of page 1. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field sketches. Content warning: Lyell uses his Scientific Notebooks to gather evidence, based on both his own observation, by...
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from 20 - 28 February 1846 while traveling around Mobile (Alabama) and New Orleans (Louisiana). The index is written by Mary Lyell and is located in the back of the notebook on pages 105, 107, 109, 111-115, and one unnumbered page. Notes are in pencil and ink, and include field sketches. Content warning: Content warning: Lyell uses his Scientific Notebooks to gather evidence,...
