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.
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell's notes from his travels on the Mississippi River, through Louisiana and New Orleans over a period of 6 days in March 1846. This notebook covers geology and ecology along the Mississippi River, Balize swamp and Pontchartrain estuary around New Orleans, Louisianna. Lyell also takes notes on Creole culture, race relations and politics in this region. Far few people are mentioned, and the notes are mostly observational, and with references to old sources....
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell's notes from his travels on the Mississippi River, through Louisiana, New Orleans and Natchez by steamer 'Magnolia' in March 1846. This notebook covers geology and ecology along the Mississippi River, Balize swamp and Pontchartrain estuary around New Orleans, Louisianna. Lyell also takes notes on Creole culture, race relations and politics in this region. Notes are primarily in pencil and include daily journal entries. The index is located at the back of...
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from March 13 to March 20, 1846, while traveling in Natchez, Jackson, Mississippi. Notes are in pencil and ink and include field sketches. The index is written by Mary Lyell and is located in the back of the notebook on pages 109-115. Content warning: Lyell uses his Scientific Notebooks to gather evidence, based on both his own observation, by reviewing other people's works, by correspondence,...
Scope and Contents
This notebook contains Charles Lyell's notes from 20th to 27th March 1846, while travelling on the Mississippi River, and considering local environs, particularly interested in the earthquakes at New Madrid, Missouri. The start of the notebook appears to focus on observations of local people and customs - as well as scenery, rather than geology. Notes are primarily in pencil. The index is located at the back of the notebook, is primarily in ink and is in the hand of Mary Horner...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from March 27th to April 4th 1846. The notebook starts in New Madrid, Missouri as Lyell travels north along the Ohio River, visiting Illinois, New Harmony, Indiana, and Kentucky. The index is located in the back of the notebook on 9 unnumbered pages. Content warning: Lyell uses his Scientific Notebooks to gather evidence, based on both his own observation, by reviewing other people's works, by...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell’s notes from April 5th to April 14, 1846. The notebook starts in Louisville, Kentucky as Lyell travels north along the Ohio River in the steamer Ben Franklin, arriving in Cincinnati on April 7th. On April 13th Lyell resumed travel up the Ohio River, bound for Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The index is located in the back of the notebook on eight unnumbered pages. Notes are in pencil and ink. Content warning:...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell's notes from 15 April to 25 April 1846 [the stated end date is inferred from the date recorded in the following notebook], having embarked from Cincinnati, Ohio on April 13th and traveling into Pennsylvania. The Lyells traveled on the steamer Clipper, continuing northward on the Ohio River from Cincinnati to Pittsburgh (arrived on April 16th), and then by carriage across the Alleghenies onto Philadelphia, a return visit destination. The Indian Mound south...
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This notebook contains Charles Lyell's notes from 26 April 1846 to 4 May 1846 [the stated end date is inferred from the start date of the following notebook]. The Lyells returned to Philadelphia, following an absence of several months, at the end of April. Charles left his wife with friends at Philadelphia and traveled to Richmond, Virginia to resume his examination of the coal fields, ‘left half-finished in December last’. He made excursions to coal mines north and south of Blackheath,...
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This notebook contains Lyell’s notes during his second trip to the United States, dated 5 May 1846, to 11 May 1846. The volume starts with Lyell in Baltimore, travelling through Philadelphia, New York City, Albany, and Troy, New York State. On pg. 12 Lyell notes seeing a humming bird in Miss Watson's Greenhouse. Lyell spends much of his time in upstate New York with a few colleagues: Joseph Cogswell (American librarian), Ebenezer Emmons (American Geologist), James Hall (American...
Scope and Contents
This Notebook contains a record of Charles Lyell’s visit to the United States of America (commenced in Notebook 121) recording his visit to New York and surrounding areas, focusing on Albany, Vermont, Saratoga, Syracuse, New Orleans, Long Island, and Mobile. This notebook has detailed notes of geological features, flora and fauna, political discussions, religion, anti-Irish, anti-American, and anti-English issues, as well as recording detailed evidence of the political state of slaves, and...
