Charles Lyell

Also known as Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, Sir Charles Lyell of Kinnordy, 1st and last Bt., Sir Charles Lyell

British geologist (1797–1875)

AI overview

Charles Lyell was a British geologist who lived in the 19th century and fundamentally changed how scientists understand Earth's history by arguing that geological features were shaped gradually over immense periods of time through natural processes still occurring today. His ideas provided crucial support for evolution by showing that Earth was old enough for life to have slowly changed and developed over millions of years.

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Person · Open Library

Born: 14 November 1797
Died: 22 February 1875
Works: 105

Top works

Principles of geology, or, The modern changes of the earth and its inhabitants considered as illustrative of geology
Recession of the falls of Niagara, from Professor Lyell's Lectures on Geology
On the existence of marine animals at various depths in seas abounding in floating ice, in arctic regions near Greenland and Spitzbergen
On a recent formation of freshwater limestone in Forfarshire, and on some recent deposits of freshwater marl
The antiquity of man

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Total plays: 350

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Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

SciPy 1.0: fundamental algorithms for scientific computing in Python
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The Pittsburgh sleep quality index: A new instrument for psychiatric practice and research
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Reproducible, interactive, scalable and extensible microbiome data science using QIIME 2
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Quotes

“When we study history we obtain a more profound insight into human nature by instituting a comparison between the present and former states of society.”
“The form of a coast, the configuration of the interior of a country, the existence and extent of lakes, valleys, and mountains, can often be traced to the former prevalence of earthquakes and volcanoes in regions which have long been undisturbed. To these remote convulsions the present fertility of some districts the sterile character of others, the elevation of land above the sea, the climate, and various peculiarities, may be distinctly referred.”
“Many distinguishing features of the surface may often be ascribed to the operation at a remote era of slow and tranquil causes-to the gradual deposition of sediment in a lake or in the ocean, or to the prolific increase of testacea and corals therein.”
“We find in certain localities subterranean deposits of coal consisting of vegetable matter formerly drifted into seas and lakes. ...These seas and The commercial prosperity and numerical strength of a nation may now be mainly dependent on the local distribution of fuel determined by that ancient state of things.”
“We know that the Egyptian priests were aware, not only that the soil beneath the plains of the Nile, but that also the hills bounding the great valley, contained marine shells; and it could hardly have escaped the observation of Eastern philosophers, that some soils were filled with fossil remains, since so many national works were executed on a magnificent scale by oriental monarchs in very remote eras.”
“Humboldt relates the interesting fact, that after the annihilation of a large part of the inhabitants of Cumana, by an earthquake in 1766, a season of extraordinary fertility ensued, in consequence of the great rains which accompanied the subterranean convulsions 'The Indians,' he says, 'celebrated, after the ideas of an antique superstition, by festivals and dancing, the destruction of the world and the approaching epoch of its regeneration.'”

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Wikidata facts

Image: PSM V01 D242 and V20 D610 Charles Lyell.jpg

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Commons category: Charles Lyell
date of birth: 1797-11-14
Commons gallery: Charles Lyell
date of death: 1875-02-22
P8168: Ully-Saint-Georges
P6944: Charles Lyell
P12749: Werner Müller

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Article

Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet (14 November 1797 – 22 February 1875) was a Scottish geologist who demonstrated the power of known natural causes in explaining the earth's history. He is best known today for his association with Charles Darwin and as the author of Principles of Geology (1830–33), which presented to a wide public audience the idea that the earth was shaped by the same natural processes still in operation today, operating at similar intensities. The philosopher William Whewell dubbed this gradualistic view "uniformitarianism" and contrasted it with catastrophism, which had been championed by Georges Cuvier and was better accepted in Europe. The combination of evidence and eloquence in Principles convinced a wide range of readers of the significance of "deep time" for understanding the earth and environment.

Lyell's scientific contributions included a pioneering explanation of climate change, in which shifting boundaries between oceans and continents could be used to explain long-term variations in temperature and rainfall. Lyell also gave influential explanations of earthquakes and developed the theory of gradual "backed up-building" of volcanoes. In stratigraphy his division of the Tertiary period into the Pliocene, Miocene, and Eocene was highly influential. He incorrectly conjectured that icebergs were the impetus behind the transport of glacial erratics, and that silty loess deposits might have settled out of flood waters. His creation of a separate period for human history, entitled the 'Recent', is widely cited as providing the foundations for the modern discussion of the Anthropocene.