Sir Charles Lyell
Charles Lyell was born in Scotland on November 14, 1797. He was the oldest of 10 children. Lyell's father was a naturalist, and he had access to a library including subjects such as Geology.
He attended Oxford University at age 19. While there, his interests were mathematics, classics, the legal system (law) and geology. He attended a lecture by William Buckland that triggered his enthusiasm for geology.
Lyell originally started his career as a lawyer, but later turned to geology. He was knighted for scientific accomplishment in 1848. He became a Baron in 1864.
Just before Darwin set sail in the Beagle he was given a copy of the first volume of a newly published book, Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology. The second and third volumes were sent to him during the voyage.
Lyell greatly influenced Darwin's view of Earth and its history. Darwin met him on his return to England and they became close friends.
Lyell believed that the Earth's rocks were very old, and that natural forces had produced continuous geological change during the course of the Earth's history. He explained the age of rocks could be estimated from the types of fossil they contained. He also stated that the fossil record was laid down over hundreds of millions of years. He thought the theories of the time were biased, based on the interpretation of Genesis in the bible.
He thought it would be more practical to exclude sudden geological catastrophes to vouch for fossil remains of extinct species and believed it was necessary to create a vast time scale for Earth's history. His concept was called Uniformitarianism. The second edition of Principles of Geology introduced new ideas regarding metamorphic rocks. It described rock changes due to high temperature in sedimentary rocks adjacent to igneous rocks. His third volume dealt with palaeontology and stratigraphy.
Darwin reasoned from Lyell's work that if rocks and rock formations have changed slowly, over a long period of time, living things might have a similar history.
Lyell was married and his wife preceded him in death. Lyell died in London on February 22, 1875.
