Lyell, Charles

(1797–1875)

   Geologist.

   Lyell was born in Forfarshire, Scotland, and he was educated at the University of Oxford. As a young man he travelled a great deal which gave him the opportunity to study rock formation. In 1823 he was made Secretary of the Geological Society and he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1826. He is remembered for his Principles of Geology, published between 1830 and 1833 and which went through many editions. Inevitably his findings called into question the traditional Mosaic cosmogeny that the world was created in 4004 bc. Later Lyell was to be a firm supporter of darwin’s views on the transmutation of species. At that period, the Church was still teaching that the creation story in the Book of Genesis was literal historical truth; both the Principles and the Origin of Species were highly disturbing to that comfortable view.

   E. Bailey, Charles Lyell (1962);

   L.G. Wilson, Charles Lyell: The Years to 1841: Revolution in Geology (1972).