Who was Charles Lyell?
Founder of modern Geology.
Date and Place of Birth:
14th November 1797, Kinnordy, Kirriemuir, Forfarshire,
Scotland.
Family Background:
Eldest of son of ten children of a Scottish botanist
Father, Charles Lyell of Kinnordy and an English Mother.
Education:
Schools at Ringwood, Salisbury and Midhurst.
Exeter College, Oxford.
Chronology/Biography of Sir Charles Lyell:
1798: Family moved
to Bartley Lodge in the New Forest in Hampshire.
1816: Attended Oxford
University and studied Mathematics and law.
1819: Started his
Career at Lincoln's Inn Fields in London as a lawyer. Elected as
a Fellow of The Geological and Linnean Societies as his interest
in Geology had been evoked by attending lectures at Oxford by Dr
William Buckland.
1822: Wrote his
first scientific paper "On a Recent Formation of Freshwater
Limestone in Forfarshire."
1823: Visited France
where he met the famous scientist Humboldt.
1824: Made a geological
tour of Scotland with Dr Buckland.
1825: Eventually
called to the Bar, the delay being caused by a weakness of his eyes.
1826: Elected as
a Fellow of the Royal Society of London.
1827: Finally abandoned
the law to become a full time geologist.
1828: Made a geological
tour of France and Italy with Roderick Murchison.
1830: Publication
of the First volume of "The Principles of Geology".
1831: Appointed
Professor of of geology at Kings College, London.
1832: Publication
of the Second volume of "The Principles of Geology".
1833: Publication
of the Third volume of "The Principles of Geology". Eleven
editions of this work were now to be published between now and 1872.
The complete works stated that geological observations at the time
were enough to explain geological history but that the action of
water, earthquakes and volcanoes were more likely to explain the
geological history of ancient times. He described what he called
uniformitarianism based on a vast time scale for the earth's history.
1834: Visited Denmark
and Sweden.
1835: Became President
of the Geological Society".
1837: Visited Norway
and Denmark.
1841: Spent a year
traveling through the United States and Canada.
1845: Second Tour
of the United States.
1848: Given a Knighthood.
1858: Visited Sicily
to study Mount Etna.
1863: Wrote the
"Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man" which owed
a a great deal to his friendship with the scientist Charles Darwin.
1864: Given a Baronetcy.
Also became President of the British association at Bath.
Written Works:
- 1830:
First volume of "The Principles of Geology"
- 1832:
Second volume of "The Principles of Geology"
- 1833:
Third volume of "The Principles of Geology"
- 1838:
"Elements of Geology"
- 1845:
Travels in North America"
- 1849:
"A Second Visit to the United States"
- 1863:
"Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man"
- 1871:
"Student's Elements of Geology"
Marriage:
1832 to Mary, eldest daughter of Leonard Horner.
Places of Interest:
LONDON:
Natural History Museum.
Date and Place of Death:
22nd February 1875, London, England.
Age at Death:
77.
Site of Grave:
North aisle of the Nave, Westminster Abbey, London.
Westminster Abbey, London
(© A Blagg)
