![PALAEOBLOG: Born This Day: Sir Charles Lyell, Nov. 14, 1797 - Feb. 22, 1875
Charles Darwin became his dear friend and correspondent. Darwin is quoted saying, “The greatest merit of the Principles [of Geology] was that it altered the whole tone of one’s mind, and therefore that, when seeing a thing never seen by Lyell, one yet saw it through his eyes.”
The “Principles of Geology” was one of the earliest academic efforts to propose earthly timelines longer than the Bible’s version. Lyell’s books gave name to and established the study of geology—imagine being one of the first few individuals to suddenly see pre-Bibilical evidence in every person and natural landscape encountered.I recently finished “This Thing of Darkness” which describes the historic contributions of the Beagle’s three surveying trips, including Darwin’s trip that included the Galapagos and fuelled “Origin of Species”. It’s a good book; the experience of Darwin reading Lyell and finding confirming evidence in Southern America’s geology sets up nicely against the Beagle’s captain (FitzRoy’s) reading the same geology as equally earnest, Enlightenment-minded proof of the Biblical Flood. If you can get past the fictionalized narrative, it offers amazing historical figures brought to life with compassion and awe.](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kt4800BhXx1qz5yk0o1_400.jpg)
Charles Darwin became his dear friend and correspondent. Darwin is quoted saying, “The greatest merit of the Principles [of Geology] was that it altered the whole tone of one’s mind, and therefore that, when seeing a thing never seen by Lyell, one yet saw it through his eyes.”
The “Principles of Geology” was one of the earliest academic efforts to propose earthly timelines longer than the Bible’s version. Lyell’s books gave name to and established the study of geology—imagine being one of the first few individuals to suddenly see pre-Bibilical evidence in every person and natural landscape encountered.
I recently finished “This Thing of Darkness” which describes the historic contributions of the Beagle’s three surveying trips, including Darwin’s trip that included the Galapagos and fuelled “Origin of Species”. It’s a good book; the experience of Darwin reading Lyell and finding confirming evidence in Southern America’s geology sets up nicely against the Beagle’s captain (FitzRoy’s) reading the same geology as equally earnest, Enlightenment-minded proof of the Biblical Flood. If you can get past the fictionalized narrative, it offers amazing historical figures brought to life with compassion and awe.
