View source for Charles Lyell

{{Short description|Scottish geologist (1797–1875)}}
{{Other people}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific-prefix  = Sir
| name              = Charles Lyell
| honorific-suffix  = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|Bt|FRS}}
| image             = Charles Lyell00.jpg
| caption           = Portrait of Lyell by George J. Stodart
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1797|11|14|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[Kinnordy House]], Angus, Scotland
| death_date        = {{death date and age|df=y|1875|2|22|1797|11|14}}
| death_place       = [[Harley Street]], London, England
| resting_place     = The Nave of [[Burials and memorials in Westminster Abbey#Nave|Westminster Abbey]]
| residence         =
| field             = Geology
| work_institutions = [[King's College London]]
| alma_mater        = [[Exeter College, Oxford]]
| known_for         = [[Uniformitarianism]]
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| prizes            = [[Royal Medal]] (1834)<br />[[Copley Medal]] (1858)<br />[[Wollaston Medal]] (1866)
| footnotes         = 
| signature         = 
| spouse            = [[Mary Horner Lyell]] 
}}
'''Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|FRS}} (14 November 1797&nbsp;– 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 [[gradualism|gradualistic]] view "[[uniformitarianism]]" and contrasted it with [[catastrophism]], which had been championed by [[Georges Cuvier]] and was better accepted in Europe.{{sfnp|Cannon|1961|pp=301–314}} 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.{{sfn|McPhee|1982|p=}}

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 [[volcano]]es. In [[stratigraphy]] his division of the [[Tertiary (period)|Tertiary]] period into the [[Pliocene]], [[Miocene]], and [[Eocene]] was highly influential. He incorrectly conjectured that icebergs were the impetus behind the transport of [[glacial erratic]]s, 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]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Crutzen |first1=Paul |title=The 'Anthropocene' |url=http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418122558/http://www.igbp.net/download/18.316f18321323470177580001401/1376383088452/NL41.pdf |archive-date=2015-04-18 |url-status=live |access-date=16 May 2019}}</ref>

Building on the innovative work of [[James Hutton]] and his follower [[John Playfair]], Lyell favoured an indefinitely long age for the earth, despite evidence suggesting an old but finite age.{{sfnp|Rudwick|2014|p=}}  He was a close friend of [[Charles Darwin]], and contributed significantly to Darwin's thinking on the processes involved in evolution. As Darwin wrote in ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', "He who can read Sir Charles Lyell's grand work on the Principles of Geology, which the future historian will recognise as having produced a revolution in natural science, yet does not admit how incomprehensibly vast have been the past periods of time, may at once close this volume."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Darwin |first1=Charles |title=On the Origin of Species |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F373&viewtype=side&pageseq=1 |website=Complete Works of Charles Darwin Online |publisher=John Murray |access-date=16 May 2019}}</ref> Lyell helped to arrange the simultaneous publication in 1858 of papers by Darwin and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] on [[natural selection]], despite his personal religious qualms about the theory. He later published evidence from geology of the time man had existed on the earth.

==Biography==
Lyell was born into a wealthy family, on 14 November 1797, at the family's [[estate house]], [[Kinnordy House]], near [[Kirriemuir]] in Forfarshire. He was the eldest of ten children. Lyell's father, also named [[Charles Lyell (botanist)|Charles Lyell]], was noted as a translator and scholar of [[Dante]]. An accomplished botanist, it was he who first exposed his son to the study of nature. Lyell's grandfather, also Charles Lyell, had made the family fortune supplying the [[Royal Navy]] at [[Montrose, Angus|Montrose]], enabling him to buy Kinnordy House.
[[File:Scotland (Location) Named (HR).png|thumb|The main geographical <br />divisions of Scotland]]

The [[family seat]] is located in [[Strathmore, Angus|Strathmore]], near the [[Highland Boundary Fault]]. Round the house, in the [[strath]], is good farmland, but within a short distance to the north-west, on the other side of the fault, are the [[Grampian Mountains]] in the [[Scottish Highlands|Highlands]]. His family's second country home was in a completely different geological and ecological area: he spent much of his childhood at [[Bartley Lodge]] in the [[New Forest]], in Hampshire in southern England.

Lyell entered [[Exeter College, Oxford]], in 1816, and attended [[William Buckland]]'s geological lectures. He graduated with a BA Hons. second class degree in classics, in December 1819, and gained his [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|M.A.]] 1821.{{sfnp|Bailey|1962|p=}}{{sfn|Wilson|1973}} After graduation he took up law as a profession, entering [[Lincoln's Inn]] in 1820. He completed a circuit through rural England, where he could observe geological phenomena. In 1821 he attended [[Robert Jameson]]'s lectures in Edinburgh, and visited [[Gideon Mantell]] at [[Lewes]], in [[Sussex]]. In 1823 he was elected joint secretary of the [[Geological Society]]. As his eyesight began to deteriorate, he turned to geology as a full-time profession.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}} His first paper, "On a recent formation of freshwater limestone in Forfarshire", was presented in 1826.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}} By 1827, he had abandoned law and embarked on a geological career that would result in fame and the general acceptance of uniformitarianism, a working out of the ideas proposed by [[James Hutton]] a few decades earlier.

[[File:Lyell 1840.jpg|left|thumb|Charles Lyell at the [[British Association]] meeting in Glasgow 1840. Painting by Alexander Craig.]]
In 1832, Lyell married [[Mary Horner]] in Bonn, daughter of [[Leonard Horner]] (1785–1864), also associated with the [[Geological Society of London]]. The new couple spent their honeymoon in Switzerland and Italy on a geological tour of the area.{{sfn|MaComber|1997}}

During the 1840s, Lyell travelled to the United States and Canada, and wrote two popular travel-and-geology books: ''Travels in North America'' (1845) and ''A Second Visit to the United States'' (1849). In 1866, he was elected a foreign member of the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]. After the [[Great Chicago Fire]] in 1871, Lyell was one of the first to donate books to help found the [[Chicago Public Library]].

In 1841, Lyell was elected as a member to the [[American Philosophical Society]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=1842&year-max=1842&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=2021-04-12|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

Lyell's wife died in 1873, and two years later (in 1875) Lyell himself died as he was revising the twelfth edition of ''Principles''.{{sfn|MaComber|1997}}<ref name="Westminster Abbey">{{Cite web |title=Charles Lyell |work=Westminster Abbey |access-date=8 September 2018 |url= https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/charles-lyell/ }}</ref> He is buried in [[Westminster Abbey]] where there is a bust to him by [[William Theed]] in the north aisle.{{sfn|Hall|1966|p=53}}

Lyell was knighted ([[Knight Bachelor|Kt]]) in 1848,<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=20905 |date=13 October 1848 |page=3692}}</ref> and later, in 1864, made a baronet ([[Baronet|Bt]]),<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=22878 |date=22 July 1864 |page=3665}}</ref> which is an hereditary honour. He was awarded the [[Copley Medal]] of the [[Royal Society]] in 1858 and the [[Wollaston Medal]] of the [[Geological Society]] in 1866. [[Mount Lyell (California)|Mount Lyell]], the highest peak in [[Yosemite National Park]], is named after him; the crater [[Lyell (lunar crater)|Lyell]] on the [[Moon]] and a [[Impact crater|crater]] on [[Mars]] were named in his honour; [[Mount Lyell (Tasmania)|Mount Lyell]] in western Tasmania, Australia, located in a profitable mining area, bears Lyell's name; and the Lyell Range in north-west Western Australia is named after him as well. In Southwest Nelson in the South Island of New Zealand, the Lyell Range, Lyell River and the gold mining town of [[Lyell, New Zealand|Lyell]] (now only a camping site) were all named after Lyell.<ref name="Russell2011">{{Cite web |title=Lyell |first=Steph |last=Russell |work=theprow.org.nz |date=2011 |access-date=8 September 2018 |url= http://www.theprow.org.nz/yourstory/lyell/#.W5OjmOgza02  }}</ref> [[Lyall Bay]] in Wellington, New Zealand was possibly named after Lyell.<ref>{{Cite news |date=5 August 1908 |title=The empire city: street and harbour nomenclature |work=Wairarapa Daily Times |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WDT19080805.2.49 |access-date=10 November 2022 |via=Paperspast}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Hayward |first=H. M. |date=9 April 1910 |title=Lyell or Lyall? |work=Evening Post |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19100409.2.22 |access-date=10 November 2022 |via=Paperspast}}</ref> The jawless fish ''[[Cephalaspis]] lyelli'', from the [[Old Red Sandstone]] of southern Scotland, was named by [[Louis Agassiz]] in honour of Lyell.{{sfnp|White|1958|pp=99–105}}

Sir Charles Lyell was buried at [[Westminster Abbey]] on 27 February 1875. The pallbearers included [[Thomas Henry Huxley|T. H. Huxley]], [[William Samuel Symonds|the Rev. W. S. Symonds]] and Mr [[John Carrick Moore]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Funeral of Sir Charles Lyell this day | newspaper = The Sun | location = London | page = 5| date = 27 February 1875}}</ref>

==Career and major writings==
Lyell had private means, and earned further income as an author. He came from a prosperous family, worked briefly as a lawyer in the 1820s, and held the post of Professor of Geology at [[King's College London]] in the 1830s. From 1830 onward his books provided both income and fame. Each of his three major books was a work continually in progress. All three went through multiple editions during his lifetime, although many of his friends (such as Darwin) thought the first edition of the ''Principles'' was the best written.<ref>{{cite book |last=Darwin |first=F. |year=1887 |title=Life and letters of Charles Darwin |volume=II |page=90 |location=London |publisher=John Murray }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Darwin |first1=F |last2=Seward |first2=A.C. |year=1903 |title=More letters of Charles Darwin |volume=II |page=232 |location=London |publisher=John Murray }}</ref> Lyell used each edition to incorporate additional material, rearrange existing material, and revisit old conclusions in light of new evidence.
[[File:C Lyell notebook page 1.jpg|alt=Pen drawing of one of Charles Lyell's ideas|thumb|A page from one of Lyell's notebooks, held in the [[University of Edinburgh]]'s Heritage Collections]]
Throughout his life, Lyell kept a remarkable series of nearly three hundred manuscript notebooks and diaries. These span Lyell's long scientific career (1825–1874), and offer an unrivalled insight into personal influences, field observations, thoughts and relationships. They were acquired in 2019 by the [[University of Edinburgh]]'s Heritage Collections, thanks to a fundraising campaign, with many generous individual and institutional donors from the UK and overseas. Highlights include his travels throughout Europe and the United States of America, the drafts of his correspondence with the likes of Charles Darwin, his geological and landscape sketches and his constant gathering of evidence and refinement of his theories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Sir Charles Lyell Collection |url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/information-services/library-museum-gallery/cultural-heritage-collections/crc/sir-charles-lyell-collection |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=The University of Edinburgh |language=en}}</ref> Lyell's collection held at the University of Edinburgh, including digital images of his five series of notebooks, and with links to other Lyell material held elsewhere, is now available on a [https://lyell.ed.ac.uk/ dedicated website].

''[[Principles of Geology]]'', Lyell's first book, was also his most famous, most influential, and most important. First published in three volumes in 1830–33, it established Lyell's credentials as an important geological theorist and propounded the doctrine of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarianism]].{{sfn|Thanukos|2012}} It was a work of synthesis, backed by his own personal observations on his travels.

The central argument in ''Principles'' was that ''the present is the key to the past''&nbsp;– a concept of the [[Scottish Enlightenment]] which [[David Hume]] had stated as "all inferences from experience suppose&nbsp;... that the future will resemble the past", and [[James Hutton]] had described when he wrote in 1788 that "from what has actually been, we have data for concluding with regard to that which is to happen thereafter."<ref name="KEY TO THE PAST">{{cite web |url=http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002CD/finalprogram/abstract_34786.htm |title=The Present is the Key to the Past is the Key to the Future |first=Elizabeth Lincoln |last=Mathieson |date=13 May 2002 |publisher=The Geological Society of America |access-date=28 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309124435/https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002CD/finalprogram/abstract_34786.htm |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Geological remains from the distant past can, and should, be explained by reference to geological processes now in operation and thus directly observable. Lyell's interpretation of geological change as the steady accumulation of minute changes over enormously long spans of time was a powerful influence on the young [[Charles Darwin]]. Lyell asked [[Robert FitzRoy]], captain of [[HMS Beagle|HMS ''Beagle'']], to search for erratic boulders on the [[Second voyage of HMS Beagle|survey voyage of the ''Beagle'']], and just before it set out FitzRoy gave Darwin Volume 1 of the first edition of Lyell's ''Principles''. When the ''Beagle'' made its first stop ashore at [[Santiago, Cape Verde|St Jago]] in the [[Cape Verde]] islands, Darwin found rock formations which seen "through Lyell's eyes" gave him a revolutionary insight into the geological history of the island, an insight he applied throughout his travels.

While in South America Darwin received Volume 2 which considered the ideas of [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck]] in some detail. Lyell rejected Lamarck's idea of organic [[evolution]], proposing instead "Centres of Creation" to explain diversity and territory of species. However, as discussed [[#Evolution|below]], many of his letters show he was fairly open to the idea of evolution.{{sfnp|Judd|1910|p=}} In geology Darwin was very much Lyell's disciple, and brought back observations and his own original theorising, including ideas about the formation of [[atoll]]s, which supported Lyell's uniformitarianism. On the return of the ''Beagle'' (October 1836) Lyell invited Darwin to dinner and from then on they were close friends.

[[File:Lyell Principles frontispiece.jpg|thumb|The frontispiece from ''Elements of Geology'']]Although Darwin discussed evolutionary ideas with him from 1842, Lyell continued to reject evolution in each of the first nine editions of the ''Principles''. He encouraged Darwin to publish, and following the 1859 publication of ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', Lyell finally offered a tepid endorsement of evolution in the tenth edition of ''Principles''.

''Elements of Geology'' began as the fourth volume of the third edition of ''[[Principles of Geology|Principles]]'': Lyell intended the book to act as a suitable field guide for students of geology.{{sfnp|Bailey|1962|p=}} The systematic, factual description of geological formations of different ages contained in ''Principles'' grew so unwieldy, however, that Lyell split it off as the ''Elements'' in 1838. The book went through six editions, eventually growing to two volumes and ceasing to be the inexpensive, portable handbook that Lyell had originally envisioned. Late in his career, therefore, Lyell produced a condensed version titled ''Student's Elements of Geology'' that fulfilled the original purpose.

''[[Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man]]'' brought together Lyell's views on three key themes from the geology of the [[Quaternary Period]] of earth history: glaciers, evolution, and the [[age of the human race]]. First published in 1863, it went through three editions that year, with a fourth and final edition appearing in 1873. The book was widely regarded as a disappointment because of Lyell's equivocal treatment of [[evolution]]. Lyell, a highly religious man with a strong belief in the special status of human reason, had great difficulty reconciling his beliefs with [[natural selection]].{{sfnp|Bynum|1984|pp=153–187}}[[File:Awfulchanges.jpg|thumb|"Professor [[Ichthyosaurus]]" shows his pupils the skull of extinct man, caricature of Lyell by [[Henry De la Beche]] (1830)]]

==Scientific contributions==
Lyell's geological interests ranged from [[volcano]]es and geological dynamics through [[stratigraphy]], [[palaeontology]], and [[glaciology]] to topics that would now be classified as [[archaeology|prehistoric archaeology]] and [[paleoanthropology]]. He is best known, however, for his role in elaborating the doctrine of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarianism]]. He played a critical role in advancing the study of [[loess]].{{sfnp|Smalley|Gaudenyi|Jovanovic|2015|pp=45–50}}

===Uniformitarianism===
From 1830 to 1833 his multi-volume ''[[Principles of Geology]]'' was published. The work's subtitle was "An attempt to explain the former changes of the earth's surface by reference to causes now in operation", and this explains Lyell's impact on science. He drew his explanations from field studies conducted directly before he went to work on the founding geology text.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}} He was, along with the earlier [[John Playfair]], the major advocate of [[James Hutton]]'s idea of [[Uniformitarianism (science)|uniformitarianism]], that the earth was shaped entirely by slow-moving forces still in operation today, acting over a very long time. This was in contrast to [[catastrophism]], an idea of abrupt geological changes, which had been adapted in England to explain landscape features—such as rivers much smaller than their associated valleys—that seemed impossible to explain other than through violent action. Criticizing the reliance of his contemporaries on what he argued were ''ad hoc'' explanations, Lyell wrote,

[[File:Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Bt.jpg|thumb|Lyell between 1865 and 1870]]<blockquote>Never was there a doctrine more calculated to foster indolence, and to blunt the keen edge of curiosity, than this assumption of the discordance between the former and the existing causes of change... The student was taught to despond from the first. Geology, it was affirmed, could never arise to the rank of an exact science... [With catastrophism] we see the ancient spirit of speculation revived, and a desire manifestly shown to cut, rather than patiently untie, the Gordian Knot.<small>-Sir Charles Lyell, ''[[Principles of Geology]]'', 1854 edition, p. 196; quoted by [[Stephen Jay Gould]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Galilei |first=Galileo |title=Dialogue on the Two Chief World Systems |year=2001 |publisher=Modern Science Library |location=New York |pages=ix–x |editor=Stephen Jay Gould}}</ref></small></blockquote>

Lyell saw himself as "the spiritual saviour of geology, freeing the science from the old dispensation of Moses."{{sfn|Porter|1976|p=91}} The two terms, ''uniformitarianism'' and ''catastrophism'', were both coined by [[William Whewell]];<ref>Whewell, William 1837. ''History of the Inductive Sciences'', vol. IV of the Historical and Philosophical Works of William Whewell. Chapter VIII The two antagonistic doctrines of geology. [reprint of 3rd edition of 1857, publ. Cass 1967].</ref> in 1866 R. Grove suggested the simpler term ''continuity'' for Lyell's view, but the old terms persisted. In various revised editions (12 in all, through 1872), ''Principles of Geology'' was the most influential geological work in the middle of the 19th century and did much to put geology on a modern footing.

===Geological surveys===
Lyell noted the "economic advantages" geological surveys could provide, citing their felicity in mineral-rich countries and provinces. Modern surveys, like the [[British Geological Survey]] (founded in 1835), and the [[US Geological Survey]] (founded in 1879), map and exhibit the natural resources within their countries. Over time, these surveys have been used extensively by modern extractive industries, such as nuclear, coal, and oil.

===Volcanoes and geological dynamics===
[[File:Vesuvius from plane.jpg|thumb|Lyell argued that volcanoes like [[Vesuvius]] had built up gradually.]]
Before Lyell's work, phenomena's such as earthquakes were understood by the destruction that they brought. One of the contributions that Lyell made in ''Principles'' was to explain the cause of earthquakes.{{sfnp|Adams|1938|p=}} Lyell, in contrast, focused on more recent earthquakes (150 yrs), evidenced by surface irregularities such as faults, fissures, stratigraphic displacements and depressions.{{sfnp|Adams|1938|p=}}

Lyell's work on volcanoes focused largely on [[Vesuvius]] and [[Mount Etna|Etna]], both of which he had earlier studied. His conclusions supported gradual building of volcanoes, so-called "backed up-building",{{sfnp|Bailey|1962}} as opposed to the upheaval argument supported by other geologists.

===Stratigraphy and human history===
Lyell was a key figure in establishing the classification of more recent geological deposits, long known as the [[Tertiary (period)|Tertiary]] period. From May 1828, until February 1829, he travelled with [[Roderick Impey Murchison]] (1792–1871) to the south of France (Auvergne volcanic district) and to Italy.{{sfnp|Bailey|1962}}{{sfn|MaComber|1997}}{{sfnp|Stafford|1989|p=}} In these areas he concluded that the recent strata (rock layers) could be categorised according to the number and proportion of marine shells encased within. Based on this the third volume of his ''[[Principles of Geology]]'', published in 1833, proposed dividing the [[Tertiary (period)|Tertiary]] period into four parts, which he named the [[Eocene]], [[Miocene]], [[Pliocene]], and Recent. In 1839, Lyell termed the [[Pleistocene]] epoch, distinguishing a more recent fossil layer from the Pliocene.<ref>{{cite book |last=Lyell |first=Charles |title=Nouveaux éléments de géologie |date=1839 |publisher=Pitois-Levranet |location=Paris, France |page=621 |url=https://archive.org/stream/elmentsdegologi00meulgoog#page/n657/mode/2up |language=fr}}</ref> The Recent epoch{{snd}} renamed the [[Holocene]] by French paleontologist [[Paul Gervais]] in 1867{{snd}} included all deposits from the era subject to human observation. In recent years Lyell's subdivisions have been widely discussed with debates about the [[Anthropocene]].

===Glaciers===
[[File:glacier.zermatt.arp.750pix.jpg|thumb|[[Lateral moraine]] on a glacier joining the [[Gorner Glacier]], Zermatt, Switzerland.]]
In ''Principles of Geology'' (first edition, vol. 3, ch. 2, 1833){{sfn|MaComber|1997}} Lyell proposed that [[iceberg]]s could be the means of transport for [[Glacial erratic|erratics]]. During periods of global warming, ice breaks off the poles and floats across submerged continents, carrying debris with it, he conjectured. When the iceberg melts, it rains down sediments upon the land. Because this theory could account for the presence of diluvium, the word ''drift'' became the preferred term for the loose, unsorted material, today called ''till''. Furthermore, Lyell believed that the accumulation of fine angular particles covering much of the world (today called [[loess]]) was a deposit settled from mountain flood water.<ref>{{cite book|last=Lyell|first=Charles|title=Life, Letters and Journals of Sir Charles Lyell|year=1881|page=110|chapter=XXIV|publisher=[[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]]| chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/lifelettersandj01lyelgoog#page/n130/mode/2up|quote=<br>You hint at icebergs and northern waves. The former has no doubt had its influence, and when icebergs turn over, or fall to pieces, huge waves are caused not merely ''from'' the north. But it has always seemed to me that much more influence ought to be attributed to simple denudation where beds of loose sand, gravel, or mud were upheaved, and sometimes alternately depressed and upraised in an open sea. The exposure of such destructible materials must have led to the confusion you allude to, but much less so where the beds were protected in fiords, &c. The broken fossils found in these strata would agree with my denudation hypothesis, which I think strengthened by the frequent regular re-stratification of the beds containing the deep and shallow water species.}}</ref> Today some of Lyell's mechanisms for geological processes have been disproven, though many have stood the test of time.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}} His observational methods and general analytical framework remain in use today as foundational principles in geology.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}}

===Evolution===
[[File:Charles Lyell slnsw.jpg|thumb|Portrait of Charles Lyell, Scottish geologist, c. 1863]]
Lyell initially accepted the conventional view of other men of science, that the fossil record indicated a directional geohistory in which species went extinct. Around 1826, when he was on circuit, he read [[Jean-Baptiste Lamarck|Lamarck]]'s ''Zoological Philosophy'' and on 2 March 1827 wrote to [[Gideon Mantell|Mantell]], expressing admiration, but cautioning that he read it "rather as I hear an advocate on the wrong side, to know what can be made of the case in good hands".:{{sfnp|Rudwick|2010|pp=244–250}}
:I devoured Lamarck... his theories delighted me... I am glad that he has been courageous enough and logical enough to admit that his argument, if pushed as far as it must go, if worth anything, would prove that men may have come from the [[Orangutan|Ourang-Outang]]. But after all, what changes species may really undergo!... That the earth is quite as old as he supposes, has long been my creed...<ref>Lyell K. 1881. ''The life and letters of Sir Charles Lyell''. 2 vols, London. vol. 1 p. 168</ref>
He struggled with the implications for human dignity, and later in 1827 wrote private notes on Lamarck's ideas. Lyell reconciled [[transmutation of species]] with [[natural theology]] by suggesting that it would be as much a "remarkable manifestation of creative Power" as creating each species separately. He countered Lamarck's views by rejecting continued cooling of the earth in favour of "a fluctuating cycle", a long-term steady-state geohistory as proposed by [[James Hutton]]. The fragmentary fossil record already showed "a high class of fishes, close to reptiles" in the [[Carboniferous]] period which he called "the first Zoological era", and quadrupeds could also have existed then. In November 1827, after [[William Broderip]] found a [[Middle Jurassic]] fossil of the early mammal ''[[Phascolotherium|Didelphis]]'', Lyell told his father that "There was everything but man even as far back as the Oolite."{{sfnp|Rudwick|2010|pp=244–250}} Lyell inaccurately portrayed Lamarckism as a response to the fossil record, and said it was falsified by a lack of progress. He said in the second volume of ''Principles'' that the occurrence of this one fossil of the higher mammalia "in these ancient strata, is as fatal to the theory of successive development, as if several hundreds had been discovered."{{sfn|Ruse|1999|p=76}}

[[File:Charles Darwin portrait by T. H. Maguire, 1849.jpg|left|upright|thumb|Charles Darwin]]

In the first edition of ''Principles'', the first volume briefly set out Lyell's concept of a steady state with no real progression of fossils. The sole exception was the advent of humanity, with no great physical distinction from animals, but with absolutely unique intellectual and moral qualities. The second volume dismissed Lamarck's claims of animal forms arising from habits, continuous [[spontaneous generation]] of new life, and man having evolved from lower forms. Lyell explicitly rejected Lamarck's concept of transmutation of species, drawing on Cuvier's arguments, and concluded that species had been created with stable attributes. He discussed the geographical distribution of plants and animals, and proposed that every species of plant or animal was descended from a pair or individual, originated in response to differing external conditions. Species would regularly go extinct, in a "struggle for existence" between hybrids, or a "war one with another" due to population pressure. He was vague about how replacement species formed, portraying this as an infrequent occurrence which could rarely be observed.{{sfn|Ruse|1999|pp=75–77}}

The leading man of science Sir [[John Herschel]] wrote from [[Cape Town]] on 20 February 1836, thanking Lyell for sending a copy of ''Principles'' and praising the book as opening a way for bold speculation on "that mystery of mysteries, the replacement of extinct species by others" – by analogy with other [[Physical law|intermediate causes]], "the origination of fresh species, could it ever come under our cognizance, would be found to be a natural in contradistinction to a miraculous process".{{sfn|Babbage|1838|pp=[http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=A25&pageseq=232 225–227]}} Lyell replied: "In regard to the origination of new species, I am very glad to find that you think it probable that it may be carried on through the intervention of intermediate causes. I left this rather to be inferred, not thinking it worth while to offend a certain class of persons by embodying in words what would only be a speculation."{{sfn|Ruse|1999|p=84}} 
[[William Whewell|Whewell]] subsequently questioned this topic, and in March 1837 Lyell told him:{{sfnp|Judd|1910|p=}}
:[[File:Alfred Russel Wallace 1862 - Project Gutenberg eText 15997.png|thumb|upright|[[Alfred Russel Wallace]] in 1862.]]If I had stated... the possibility of the introduction or origination of fresh species being a natural, in contradistinction to a miraculous process, I should have raised a host of prejudices against me, which are unfortunately opposed at every step to any philosopher who attempts to address the public on these mysterious subjects{{Nbsp}}...<ref>Lyell to [[William Whewell]], 7 March 1837. In Lyell K. 1881. ''The life and letters of Sir Charles Lyell''. 2 vols, London. vol. 2 p. 5</ref>

As a result of his letters and, no doubt, personal conversations, [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]] and [[Ernst Haeckel]] were convinced that, at the time he wrote ''Principles'', he believed new species had arisen by natural methods. [[Adam Sedgwick]] wrote worried letters to him about this.{{sfnp|Judd|1910|pp=83–86|loc= Ch. 8}}

By the time [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]] returned from the [[Second voyage of HMS Beagle|''Beagle'' survey expedition]] in 1836, he had begun to doubt Lyell's ideas about the permanence of species. He continued to be a close personal friend, and Lyell was one of the first scientists to support ''[[On the Origin of Species]]'', though he did not subscribe to all its contents. Lyell was also a friend of Darwin's closest colleagues, [[Joseph Dalton Hooker]] and [[Thomas Henry Huxley|Huxley]], but unlike them he struggled to square his religious beliefs with evolution. This inner struggle has been much commented on. He had particular difficulty in believing in [[natural selection]] as the main motive force in evolution.{{sfnp|Bowler |2003|pp=129–134, 149–150, 215}}{{sfnp|Mayr |1982|pp=375–381, 404–408}}{{sfnp|Bartholomew |1973|pp=261–303}}

Lyell and Hooker were instrumental in arranging the peaceful co-publication of the theory of natural selection by Darwin and [[Alfred Russel Wallace]] in 1858: each had arrived at the theory independently. Lyell's views on gradual change and the power of a long time scale were important because Darwin thought that populations of an organism changed very slowly.

Although Lyell rejected evolution at the time of writing the ''Principles'',{{sfnp|Lyell|1832|pp= 20–21}} after the Darwin–Wallace papers and the ''Origin'' Lyell wrote in one of his notebooks on 3 May 1860:
:Mr. Darwin has written a work which will constitute an era in geology & natural history to show that... the descendants of common parents may become in the course of ages so unlike each other as to be entitled to rank as a distinct species, from each other or from some of their progenitors{{Nbsp}}...{{sfnp|Wilson|1970|p=407}}

Lyell's acceptance of natural selection, Darwin's proposed mechanism for evolution, was equivocal, and came in the tenth edition of ''Principles''.{{sfn|Wilson|1973}}{{sfnp|Desmond|1982|p=179|ps=: "Even Charles Lyell agreed... that 'natural selection was a force quite subordinate to that variety-making or creative power to which all the wonders of the organic world must be referred.' "}} ''[[The Antiquity of Man]]'' (published in early February 1863, just before Huxley's ''Man's place in nature'') drew these comments from Darwin to Huxley: "I am fearfully disappointed at Lyell's excessive caution" and "The book is a mere 'digest'".<ref>Burkhardt F. and Smith S. 1982–present. ''The correspondence of Charles Darwin.'' Cambridge, vol. 11, pp. 173, 181.</ref>[[File:Lyell Family Grave Brookwood Cemetery.jpg|thumb|150px|right|Lyell Family Grave in [[Brookwood Cemetery]] with a memorial to Lyell]]Quite strong remarks: no doubt Darwin resented Lyell's repeated suggestion that he owed a lot to [[Lamarck]], whom he (Darwin) had always specifically rejected. Darwin's daughter Henrietta (Etty) wrote to her father: "Is it fair that Lyell always calls your theory a modification of Lamarck's?"<ref>Burkhardt F. and Smith S. 1982–present. ''The correspondence of Charles Darwin.'' Cambridge, vol. 11, p. 223.</ref>{{sfnp|Browne|2003|p=219}}

In other respects ''Antiquity'' was a success. It sold well, and it "shattered the tacit agreement that mankind should be the sole preserve of theologians and historians".{{sfnp|Browne|2003|p=218}} But when Lyell wrote that it remained a profound mystery how the huge gulf between man and beast could be bridged, Darwin wrote "Oh!" in the margin of his copy.{{sfnp|Bynum|1984|pp=153–187}}

==Legacy==
Places named after Lyell:

* [[Lyell, New Zealand]]
* [[Lyell Butte]], in the [[Grand Canyon]][[File:Mount Lyell Group.jpg|right|thumb|California's Mount Lyell group]]
* [[Lyell Canyon]] in Yosemite National Park
* Lyell Fork, one of two large forks of the [[Tuolumne River]]
* [[Lyell Land]] (Greenland)
* [[Lyell Glacier]]
* [[Lyell Glacier, South Georgia]]
* [[Mount Lyell (California)]]
* [[Mount Lyell (Canada)]]
* [[Mount Lyell (Tasmania)]]
*Lyell Avenue (Rochester, NY)

==Bibliography==
{{External links|section|date=July 2025}}
All the books except the Broadway Lectures were published by [[London]], [[John Murray (publishing house)|John Murray]], Albemarle-Street.

===Geology===
====Books====
*[[Principles of Geology]]: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes Now in Operation (12 editions) (1830-75)
#1st edition, 2 volumes: [https://archive.org/details/PrinciplesgeoloVol1Lyel/page/iii/mode/1up volume 1] (January 1830), [https://archive.org/details/PrinciplesgeoloVol2Lyel/page/i/mode/1up volume 2] (January 1832)
#2nd edition, 3 volumes: [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=EUwPAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false volume 1] (1832), [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=JoW8AAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false volume 2] (January 1833),  [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=TO7AAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false volume 3] (May 1833)
#3rd edition, 4 volumes (May 1834) [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.222586/page/n3/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.222577/page/n3/mode/1up 2] [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.222578/page/n3/mode/1up 3] [https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.222579/page/n9/mode/1up 4]
#4th edition, 4 volumes (June 1835) [https://archive.org/details/b33029350_0001/page/n10/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/b33029350_0002/page/n8/mode/1up 2] [https://archive.org/details/b33029350_0003/page/n8/mode/1up 3] [https://archive.org/details/b33029350_0004/page/1/mode/1up 4]
#5th edition, 4 volumes (March 1837) [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105892#page/4/mode/1up 1] [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105893#page/4/mode/1up 2] [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/106420#page/4/mode/1up 3] [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105905#page/4/mode/1up 4] ([[Charles Darwin]]'s copy)
#6th edition, 3 volumes (June 1840) [https://archive.org/details/B-001-002-230/page/n9/mode/1up 1] [https://www.google.com.bd/books/edition/_/VRU-AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1 2] [https://archive.org/details/principlesgeolo16lyelgoog/page/n7/mode/1up 3]
#[https://archive.org/details/PrinciplesofGeology/page/n5/mode/1up 7th edition] (February 1847)
#[https://archive.org/details/b29304465/page/n6/mode/1up 8th edition] (May 1850)
#[https://archive.org/details/bwb_KR-563-516/page/n8/mode/1up 9th edition] (June 1853)
#10th edition, 2 volumes [https://archive.org/details/principlesgeolo00unkngoog/page/n11/mode/1up volume 1] (1867) [https://archive.org/details/principlesgeolo40lyelgoog/page/n9/mode/1up volume 2] (1868)
#11th edition, 2 volumes (1872) [https://archive.org/details/principlesgeolo41lyelgoog/page/n10/mode/1up 1] [https://books.googleusercontent.com/books/content?req=AKW5QaewuAm3UoQDV6H0rixN-BWRkG4FBk3Iiz50PFJSn6MwnDW1vdenLSmFWfNTkOC9yOcgejEOe-PaZkoQit_k6QUxkPKkvcwDHZhdeVsk84Aj9MDPusgnFbwmDNbACva-bDvvqBWBbmaJIinf0DBWiZ6TlM3msMgUXJedZ3teZ6KsLTMvB26kbvAoC5j2exNViFaRDY5UO1nBPRhfSLicqxBHesmny2l-MNZP-tbScvbK35fUSywOJRiJuMTRWe2-tqBoAHdQ 2]
#12th edition, 2 volumes (1875) - posthumous [https://archive.org/details/principlesofgeol01lyel/page/n10/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/principlesofgeo02lyeluoft/page/n8/mode/1up 2]
*Elements of Geology (A Manual of Elementary Geology - The Ancient Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants as Illustrated by Geological Monuments) (9 editions) (1838-74)
#[https://archive.org/details/b22026265/page/n10/mode/1up 1st edition] (July 1838)
#2nd edition, 2 volumes (July 1841) - [https://books.google.bs/books?id=epeXfURr7K8C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false 1] [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=WBxaAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 2]
#[https://www.google.com.bd/books/edition/A_Manual_of_Elementary_Geology_Or_the_An/QxI-AAAAcAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=manual+of+elementary+geology+1851&printsec=frontcover 3rd edition] (January 1851)
#[https://archive.org/details/manualofelementa00lyelrich/page/n6/mode/1up 4th edition] (January 1852)
#[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/105908#page/6/mode/1up 5th edition] (1855) ([[Charles Darwin]]'s copy) and Supplement (1857):
##[https://archive.org/details/Lyell1857wi12D/page/n1/mode/1up 1st edition]
##[https://archive.org/details/b22268959/page/n2/mode/1up revised 2nd edition]
#[https://archive.org/details/b28094050/page/n8/mode/1up 6th edition] (1865)
#[https://archive.org/details/studentelementgeo00lyelrich/page/n9/mode/2up Students'  1st edition (1871)]
#[https://archive.org/details/studentselements00lyelrich/page/n8/mode/1up Students' 2nd revised and corrected edition] (1874)
#[https://archive.org/details/studentselements00lyeliala/page/n7/mode/2up Students' 3rd revised and corrected edition] (1878) - posthumously edited by [[Leonard Lyell, 1st Baron Lyell|Leonard Lyell]] and Professor John Wesley Judd
*8 Lectures on Geology Delivered at the Broadway Tabernacle (2 Editions) (1842-3):
#[https://archive.org/details/cihm_55281/page/n5/mode/2up 1st edition] (1842)
#[https://archive.org/details/ldpd_10799417_000/page/n2/mode/1up 2nd edition] (1843)
*Travels in North America in the years 1841-2 with geological observations on the United States, Canada, and Nova Scotia (2 Volumes) (2 editions) (1845 and 1855)
#1st edition (1845) [https://archive.org/details/b33487686_0001/page/n5/mode/2up 1],  [https://archive.org/details/travelsinnortham02lyel_2/page/n5/mode/2up 2]
#2nd edition (1855) [https://www.google.com/books/edition/Travels_in_North_America_Canada_and_Nova/WgYAAAAAQAAJ?kptab=editions&gbpv=1 1] [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=yOFEAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 2]
*A Second Visit to the United States of North America (2 Volumes) (3 editions) (1849-55)<ref name=Review2ndVisit>{{cite journal|title=Review of ''A Second Visit to the United States of North America, in the Years 1845-6'' by Sir Charles Lyell|journal=The Quarterly Review|date=June 1849|volume=85|pages=183–224|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b661324;view=1up;seq=195}}</ref>
#1st edition (1849) [https://archive.org/details/asecondvisittou09lyelgoog/page/n7/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/asecondvisittou01lyelgoog/page/n9/mode/1up 2]
#2nd edition (1850) [https://archive.org/details/secondvisittouni01lyel_0/page/n6/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/b33488204_0002/page/n6/mode/1up 2]
#3rd edition (1855) [https://archive.org/details/cu31924088420017/page/n6/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/cu31924088420066/page/n6/mode/1up 2]
*Scientific Journal on the Species Question (1855-61) (2 Editions):
#1st edition (1862)
#2nd edition (posthumous) - edited and annotated with a preface and introduction by Leonard G. Wilson (1970)
[[File:Lyell, Charles – Geological evidences of the antiquity of man, 1863 – BEIC 11967196.jpg|thumb|''Geological evidences of the antiquity of man'', 1863]]
*''Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man with Remarks on Theories of the Origin of Species by Variation'' (4 editions) (1863 and 1873)
#[https://archive.org/details/geologicaleviden00lyelrich/page/n8/mode/1up 1st edition] (February 1863)<ref>{{ws | [[s:Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man|''Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man'']] at wikisource}}</ref>
#[https://archive.org/details/B-001-002-190/page/n11/mode/1up 2nd edition] (April 1863)
#[https://archive.org/details/B-001-002-188/page/n9/mode/1up 3rd edition] (November 1863)
#[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_m4ppZ_zJ9JwC/page/n7/mode/2up 4th edition] (May 1873)

====Papers and Lectures====
*On a recent Formation of Freshwater Limestone in Forfarshire and on some recent Deposits of Freshwater Marl/ Geological Society's Transactions 1825.
*On Serpentine Dyke in Forfarshire Edinburgh Journal of Science, 1825.
*On Various Scientific Institutions in England,’ Quarterly Review, 1825.
*“Art. VIII. 1. Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society. vol. 1. 2. Memoirs of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Manchester. 2nd Series, vol. iv. London, 1824. 3. Transactions of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, instituted February 11, vol. i and ii. Penzance. 4. Report of the Liverpool Royal Institution. 1822. 5. Bristol Institution. Proceedings of the Second Annual Meeting held February 10, 1825 etc. 6. Annual Report of the Council of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society for 1824,” Quart. Rev. 34 (1826): 153-79.
*“Art. IX. Transactions of the Geological Society of London vol. i. 2d Series. London 1824,” Quart. Rev. 34 (1826): 507-40.
*“Art. X. Letter to Mr. Brougham on the Subject of a London University, together with Suggestions respecting the Plan. By T. Campbell Esq., London, 1825,” Quart. Rev. 33 (1825-26): 257-75.
*On Fossil Bones of the Elephant and other Animals found near Salisbury ’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1826.
*On the Strata of the Plastic Clay Formation between Christchurch Hants, and Studland Bay, Dorset,’ Geological Society's Transactions 1826
*On the Freshwater Strata of Hordwell Cliff, Beacon Cliff, and Barton Clift, Hampshire,’ Geological Society's Transactions, 1826.
*Review of Scrope’s ‘Geology of Central France,’ Quarterly Review, 1826.
*“Art. VIII. ‘State of the Universities ” Quart. Rev. 36 (1827): 216-68. V “Art. IV. Memoir on the Geology of Central France; including the Volcanic Formations of Auvergne, the Velay and the Vivarais, with a volume of Maps and Plates. By G. P. Scrope F.R.S., F.G.S., London 1827.” Quart. Rev. 36 (1827): 437-83.
*Roderick Impey Murchison on Excavation of Valleys,’ Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, 1829.
*Roderick Impey Murchison on Lacustrine Deposits of Cantal,’ ''Annales des Sciences Naturelles'', 1829. (''Sur les depots lacustres tertiaires du Cantal, et leurs rapports avec les roches primordiales et volcaniques,” Ann. Sci. Arat.'' 18 (1829): 173-214; in French)
*Roderick Impey Murchison on Freshwater Formation of Aix in Provence,’ Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 1829.
*Reply to a Note in the Rev. Mr. Conybeare’s paper entitled ‘An examination of those phaenomena of geology which seem to bear most directly on theoretical speculations/ ” Phil. Mag. 9 (1831): 1-3.
*On Freshwater Formation of Cerdagne in the Pyrenees,’ Magazine of Natural History, 1834.
*On the Proofs of a gradual Rising of the Land in certain Parts of Sweden, The Bakerian Lecture,’ Philosophical Transactions, 1834.
*On the Change of Level of the Land and Sea in Scandinavia,’ British Association Report, 1834.
*On Relative Ages of Crag in Norfolk and Suffolk,’ Magazine of Natural History, 1835,
*On the Cretaceous and Tertiary Strata of the Danish Islands of Seeland and Moen,’ 1835.
*On the Occurrence of Fossil Vertebras of Fish of the Shark Family in Loess of the Rhine,’ Geological Proceedings, 1835.
*Address to the Geological Society, delivered at the Anniversary on the 19th of February 1836,” Proceedings Geological Society London 2 (1834-37): 357 90.
*Address to the Geological Society, delivered at the Anniversary, on the 17th of February, 1837,” Proceedings Geological Society London 2 (1834-37): 479- 523.
*On Phenomena connected with the Junction of Granitic and Transition Rocks near Christiania in Norway,’ British Association Report, 1837
*On Vertical Lines of Flint, traversing Horizontal Strata of Chalk near Norwich,’ British Association Report, 1838
*On the Occurrence of Graptolites in the Slate of Galloway,’ Geological Proceedings, 1838.
*Remarks on Captain Bayfield's Canada Shells,’ Geological Transactions, 1839.
*On Remains of Mammalia in the Crag and London Clay of Suffolk,’ British Association Report, 1839.
*On Sandpipes in Chalk near Norwich,’ Philosophical Magazine, 1839.
*On Fossil Teeth of Leopard, Bear, &c. at Newbourn, Suffolk,’ Annals of Natural History, 1839.
*On Fossil Quadrumana, Marsupials, &c., in London Olay, near Woodbridge, Suffolk,’ Annals of Natural History IV., 1839.
*On Ancient Sea-cliffs in the Valley of the Seine in Normandy,’ British Association Report, 1840.
*On the Boulder Formation and Mud Cliffs of Eastern Norfolk,’ Geological Magazine, 1840.
*On the Geological Evidence of the former Existence of Glaciers in Forfarshire,’ Geological Proceedings, 1840.
*On the Genus Conus in the Lias of Normandy,’ Annals of Natural History VI., 1840.
*On the Faluns of the Loire,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1841.
*On the Freshwater Fossil Fishes of Mundesley as determined by Agassiz,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1841.
*Remarks on the Silurian Strata between Aymestry and Wenlock,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1841.
*Notes on the Silurian Strata near Christiania in Norway,’ Geological Proceedings, 1841.
*On the Carboniferous and Older Rocks of Pennsylvania,’ 1841.
*On the Recession of the Falls of Niagara,’ Geological Society's Proceedings , 1842.
*On the Elevated Beaches and Boulder Formations of the Canadian Lakes and Valley of St. Lawrence,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1842.
*On Fossil Footprints of Birds, Connecticut,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1842
*On the Tertiary Formations in Virginia, 1842.
*On Tertiary Strata of Martha's Vineyard, Geological Society's Proceedings, 1843.
*On Mastodon at Big-bone-Lick, Kentucky,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1848
*On Coal and Gypsum of Nova Scotia,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1843,
*On Loess of the Rhine,’ Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, 1843.
*On Chalk of New Jersey,’ Geological Journal, 1844.
*On Age of Plumbago and Anthracite at Worcester, Massachusetts," 1844
*Report on Haswell Colliery, Lyell and Faraday,’ Geological Journal, 1844
*On Miocene Strata of Maryland, Virginia,’ &c. 1845
*On White Limestone, and Eocene Formation in Virginia, Carolina, &c., Geological Journal, 1845,
*On Lava-currents, Auvergne,’ Geological Journal, 1845.
*On Goal-Field of Tuscaloosa, Alabama,’ Silliman’s Journal, 1846 ‘ On Alabama Coal-fields,’ Geological Journal, 1846.
*On Newer Deposits of Southern States, Claiborne,’ Geological Journal, 1846
*On Fossil Footprints, allied to Cheirotherium, in Pennsylvania,’ Geological Journal, 1846.
*On Delta of Mississippi,’ Lecture to the British Association, 1846.
*Age of Volcanoes in Auvergne, as determined by Fossil Mammalia,’ Lecture at Royal Institution , 1847.
*On Structure and Probable Age of Coal-field of James River, Virginia ’ Geological Society, 1847.
*On Craters of Denudation with Observations on the Structure and Growth of "Volcanic Cones,’ Geological Society's Proceedings, 1849.
*On Recent Foot-prints on Red Mud in Nova Scotia,’ Geological Journal, 1849.
*Lecture on Delta of Mississippi at the Royal Institution,’ 1849.
*On Forests of Erect Fossil Trees in Coal Strata of North America,’ Lecture at Royal Institution, 1850.
*President’s Address to Geological Society of London,’ 1850-1
*On Impressions of Raindrops in Ancient and Modern Strata,’ Lecture at Royal Institution, 1851
*On Fossil Rain-marks of the Recent Triassic and Carboniferous Periods,’ Geological Quarterly Journal, 1851.
*On Blacklieath Pebble-bed, and on Certain Phenomena in the Geology of the Neighbourhood of London,’ Royal Institution's Proceedings, 1851
*On Tertiary Strata of Belgium and French Flanders,’ Geological Journal, 1852
*On Remains of Dendrerpeton and Land Shells in Nova Scotia, by Sir C. Lyell and J. W. Dawson, with Notes by Wyman,’ Quarterly Geological Journal, 1853.
*On Geology of Madeira,’ Quarterly Geological Journal, 1853.
*On Erratic Blocks West of Massachusetts,’ Royal Institution Lecture, 1855.
*On Successive Changes in Temple of Serapis,’ Royal Institution Lecture, 1856.
*On Stony Lava on Steep Slopes on Etna,’ Royal Society's Proceedings, 1858.
*On Consolidation of Lava and on Volcanoes,’ Royal Institution Lecture, 1859.

===Translations of the poems of [[Dante Alighieri]] and biographical book===
*[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_87BLAQAAIAAJ/page/n8/mode/1up The canzoniere: including the poems of the Vita nuova and Convito] (1835)
*[https://archive.org/details/dli.ministry.16559/page/n1/mode/1up The lyrical poems] (1845)
*The Life, Letters and Journals (2 Volumes) (1881) - posthumously edited by [[Katharine Murray Lyell]] [https://archive.org/details/b29000798_0001/page/n12/mode/1up 1] [https://archive.org/details/b29000798_0002/page/n10/mode/1up 2]
*Memoir of [[Leonard Horner]], FRS, FGS, consisting of letters to his family and from some of his friends. (2 volumes) Women’s Printing Society (1890) - edited by [[Katharine Murray Lyell]] [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=LJoy3rG1DlYC&pg=PR5&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=1#v=onepage&q&f=false 1 - Limited Preview only] [https://books.google.com.bd/books?id=Sh05AQAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false 2] - contains letters to and from Lyell

{{clear}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{refbegin|2|indent=yes}}
*{{cite book|last=Adams|first=Frank Dawson |author-link=Frank Dawson Adams|title=The birth and development of the geological sciences|url=https://archive.org/details/birthanddevelopm031745mbp|year=1938|publisher=The Williams And Wilkins Company|location=Baltimore}}
*{{cite book |last=Babbage |first=Charles |title=The Ninth Bridgewater Treatise |edition=2nd |publisher=John Murray |location=London |year=1838 }}
*{{cite book|last=Bailey|first=Sir Edward |title=Charles Lyell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q9t5uAEACAAJ|year=1962|publisher=[[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]]|location=London}}
*{{cite journal |first=M. |last=Bartholomew |year=1973 |title=Lyell and evolution: an account of Lyell's response to the prospect of an evolutionary ancestry for man |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |volume=6|pages=261–303 |jstor=4025445 |pmid=11615533 |issue=3 |doi=10.1017/S0007087400016265|doi-access=free }}
*{{cite book|last=Bowler|first= P.J.|date= 2003|url=https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl_n7y8 |url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/evolutionhistory0000bowl_n7y8/page/129 129]|title=Evolution: the history of an idea|edition= 3rd |publisher= University of California Press|isbn=0-520-23693-9}}
*{{cite book|last=Browne|first=E. Janet |title=Charles Darwin: A Biography|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o0CeYRJnWmYC|volume=2: The power of place|year=2003|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=0-691-11439-0}}
*{{cite journal |first=W.F. |last=Bynum |author-link=W. F. Bynum |year=1984 |title=Charles Lyell's ''Antiquity of Man'' and its critics |journal=J Hist Biol |volume=17 |pages=153–187 |jstor=4330890 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/BF00143731|s2cid=84588890 }}
*{{Cite journal |title=The Impact of Uniformitarianism: Two Letters from John Herschel to Charles Lyell, 1836-1837 |last=Cannon |first=Walter F.  |volume=105 |issue=3 |pages=301–314 |date=27 June 1961 |jstor=985457 |journal=Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society |publisher=American Philosophical Society}}
*{{cite book|author-link=Adrian Desmond|last=Desmond|first= Adrian|date= 1982|title=Archetypes and Ancestors: Palaeontology in Victorian London|publisher= Blond & Briggs|location= London|url=https://archive.org/details/ArchetypesAndAncestorsPalaeontologyInVictorianLondon1850-1875|isbn=0-85634-121-5}}
*{{cite book|last=Hall|first=Alfred Rupert |author-link=Alfred Rupert Hall|title=The Abbey Scientists|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N9wNAQAAIAAJ|year=1966|publisher=R. & R. Nicholson}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hestmark |first1=Geir |year=2012 |title=The meaning of 'metamorphic' – Charles & Mary Lyell in Norway, 1837 |journal=Norwegian Journal of Geology |volume=91 |pages=247–275 }}
*{{cite book|last=Judd|first=John Wesley |author-link=John Wesley Judd|title=The Coming of Evolution: The Story of a Great Revolution in Science|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.22145|year=1910|publisher=The University Press|location=Cambridge}}
* {{cite book |last=MaComber |first=Richard W. |chapter=Lyell, Sir Charles, Baronet |title=The New Encyclopædia Britannica |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |year=1997 }}
*{{cite book|last=Mayr|first= E. |date=1982|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pHThtE2R0UQC&pg=PA375 |title=The growth of biological thought|publisher= Harvard University Press|isbn=0-674-36446-5}}
*{{cite book|last=McPhee|first=John |title=Basin and Range|url={{google books|id=Apu1YJsQcaAC|plain-url=yes|keywords=lyell deep time}}|year=1982|publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux|isbn=978-0-374-70856-6}}
* {{cite journal |last=Porter |first=Roy S. |title=Charles Lyell and the Principles of the History of Geology |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |date=July 1976 |jstor=4025798 |volume=32 |pages=91–103 |issue=2 |doi=10.1017/s0007087400014692|s2cid=146595131 }}
*{{cite book|first=Michael|last=Ruse|title=The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw|url=https://archive.org/details/darwinianrevolut0000ruse_c9r7|url-access=registration|page=[https://archive.org/details/darwinianrevolut0000ruse_c9r7/page/88 88]|date=15 October 1999|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73169-8}}
*{{cite book|first=Martin J. S. |last=Rudwick|title=Worlds Before Adam: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uQNX5jhoLPsC&pg=PT269|date=2010|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-73130-8}}
*{{cite book|last=Rudwick|first=Martin J. S. |title=Earth's Deep History: How It Was Discovered and Why It Matters|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vY2RBAAAQBAJ|year=2014|publisher=University of Chicago Press|isbn=978-0-226-20409-3}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Smalley|first1=Ian|last2=Gaudenyi|first2=Tivadar|last3=Jovanovic|first3=Mladen|title=Charles Lyell and the loess deposits of the Rhine valley|journal=Quaternary International|volume=372|year=2015|pages=45–50|issn=1040-6182|doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2014.08.047|bibcode=2015QuInt.372...45S}}
*{{cite book|last= Stafford|first= Robert A. |title=Scientist of Empire|location= Cambridge|publisher= University Press|date= 1989}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Taub |first1=Liba |year=1993 |title=''Evolutionary Ideas and "Empirical" Methods: The Analogy Between Language and Species in the Works of Lyell and Schleicher'' |journal=British Journal for the History of Science |volume=26 |pages=171–193 |doi=10.1017/s0007087400030740|title-link=August Schleicher |s2cid=144553417 }}
* {{cite web |url=http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/article/_0/history_12 |title=Uniformitarianism: Charles Lyell |first=Anna |last=Thanukos |publisher=University of California Museum of Paleontology |year=2012 |access-date=23 July 2012}}
*{{cite book|ref={{sfnref|Wilson|1970}}|last=Lyell|first=Sir Charles |editor-last=Wilson|editor-first= Leonard G|editor-link=Leonard Gilchrist Wilson |title=Sir Charles Lyell's Scientific Journals on the Species Question|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Y-_GjwEACAAJ|year=1970|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-01231-6}}
*{{Cite journal |title=On ''Cephalaspis lyelli'' Agassiz |publisher=The Palaeontological Association |last=White |first=Errol I. |journal=Palaeontology |date=May 1958 |volume=1 |pages=99–105 |url= https://www.palass.org/publications/palaeontology-journal/archive/1/2/article_pp99-105 }}
* {{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Leonard G. |chapter=Charles Lyell |title=Dictionary of Scientific Biography |editor-first=Charles Coulston |editor-last=Gillispie |volume=VIII |location=Pennsylvania |publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons |year=1973 }}
{{refend}}

;Image source
* Portraits of Honorary Members of the [[Ipswich Museum]] (Portfolio of 60 lithographs by T.H. Maguire) (George Ransome, Ipswich 1846–1852)

== Further reading ==
* [https://archive.org/details/charleslyellyear0000wils/page/n11/mode/2up? ''Charles Lyell, the years to 1841: the revolution in geology'' (1972)] by Leonard G Wilson, published in New Haven; London: Yale University Press
* ''[[Time's Arrow, Time's Cycle]]'' (1978), a book by [[Stephen Jay Gould]] that reassesses Lyell's work
* ''Principles of Geology: Penguin Classics'' (1997), the key chapters of Lyell's most famous work with an introduction by [[James A. Secord]]
* ''Worlds Before Adam: The Reconstruction of Geohistory in the Age of Reform'' (2008), a major overview of Lyell's work in its scientific context by [[Martin J. S. Rudwick]]

==External links==
* [https://lyell.ed.ac.uk/ Website showcasing Lyell's comprehensive archive] held at the University of Edinburgh 
* {{Commons category-inline|Charles Lyell}}
* {{wikisource author-inline}}
* {{Wikiquote-inline}}
* {{Gutenberg author |id=1297| name=Charles Lyell}}
* {{Librivox author |id=12333}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Charles Lyell}}
* [http://www.esp.org/books/lyell/principles/facsimile/title3.html ''Principles of Geology'' 1st edition] at ESP.
* [http://lhldigital.lindahall.org/cdm/ref/collection/earththeory/id/17524 ''Principles of Geology''] (7th edition, 1847) from [[Linda Hall Library]]
*{{NPG name}}

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{{GLS Presidents}}
{{Copley Medallists 1851–1900}}
{{Natural history}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyell, Charles}}
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[[Category:Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom|Lyell, Charles, 1st Baronet]]
[[Category:People educated at Midhurst Grammar School]]
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