Charles+Lyell

CHARLES LYELL 1797-1875 Gabrielle Peralta

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famousscientists.org Charles Lyell was born November 14,1797 and died February 22, 1875

Charles Lyell was born on Novemver 14,1797 in Scotland and was a huge collector of moths and rocks. At age 15 Lyell read a book by Robert Bakewell, "Introduction of Geology" which started his interest in the study. In 1816 he attended geology lectures with William Buckland and entered college at Oxford. In 1819 Lyell earned his bachelors degree in law, but knew he wanted to study geology. In 1820 he stareted to travel around Europe to find evidence for his theories. In 1823 Lyell became secretary for his geological society, and later president for two terms. In 1825 he was diagnoised with weakness of his eyes, but that didnt stop him from studying and writing books.(biography.youdictionary.com)

"Catastrophism" is the idea that the world began as a ball of hot, melted rock, and as it cooled life began and mountains formed from volcanic eruptions. This is the idea of many of geologist in Lyell's time. Lyell argued that geology is a science of its own and that religious preference and scripture had nothing to do with how the face of the Earth looks today. For example, many people believed that the flood in the story of Noah's Ark caused valley's to form, and mountains to grow. (evolution.berkley.edu). Charles Lyells first book "Principles of Geology" american-buddha.com

In 1825 Lyell went back to law for three years, and wrote papers and several other books on geological science. In 1830 Lyell wrote his book called "Principles of Geology", it had twelve editions. Lyell was the first professor of geology at King's College, London from 1831 to 1833. Lyell wrote "Manual of Elementary Geology," two accounts of his "North American Travels" in 1845 and 1849, and in 1858 he was awarded the Copley Medal. Charles Lyell also wrote the "Geological Evidence of The Antiquity of Man" in 1863-1873. en.wikipedia.org

Charles Lyell came up with the theory of Uniformitarianism. Uniformitarianism is the idea that the Earth changes slowly, and at a constant pace to continuously destroy, and rebuild itself. It was a theory that gradual change happens naturally. Charles Lyell influeneced the way Charles Darwin interpreted the theory of Evolution. As Darwin was traveling the world he was reading Lyells book, "The Principles of Geology" and witnessed some of these as well. The theory of Uniformitarianism was a start of a slow prosses of things breaking down, Darwin interpreted the same idea for howhumans evolved into what we are now. Lyell created the chronology of rock layers and added age dates and the names to the layers as well.(evolution.berkley.edu). The reason why Charles Lyell is so important for evolution is that he was the founder of modern geology. He was laying down the basic information and inspiring us to learn more.

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Refrences:


 * Biography of Sir Charles Lyell. (n.d.). //Scripture and Science//. Retrieved January 16, 2013, from reformation.edu/scripture-science-stott/ages/pages/08-bio-charles-lyell.htm
 * Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell. (n.d.). //Understanding Evolution//. Retrieved January 14, 2013, from evolution.berkley.edu/evolibrary/article/history_12
 * "Sir Charles Lyell Biography." //Biography//. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Jan. 2013. .