Charles Lyell

@Lawyers, Career and Life

Charles Lyell was a pioneering geologist from Britain, who studied the underlying forces which shaped the earth’s surface to its present day form

Nov 14, 1797

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Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: November 14, 1797
  • Died on: February 22, 1875
  • Nationality: British
  • Famous: Lawyers, Intellectuals & Academics, Geographers, Geologists
  • Universities:
    • Exeter College
    • Oxford
    • King's College London
    • University of Oxford
  • Birth Place: Angus
  • Gender: Male

Charles Lyell born at

Angus

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Birth Place

In 1832, Lyell married Mary Horner, who was also associated with the ‘Geological Society of London’.

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Personal Life

He died on February 22, 1875 at the age of 77 of natural causes. He was buried in Westminster Abbey.

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Personal Life

Places named after him include Lyell, New Zealand; Mount Lyell in California; Mount Lyell in Canada; Lyell Land in Greenland; Mount Lyell in Tasmania; Lyell Glacier in South Georgia; and Lyell Canyon.

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Personal Life

He was born on November 17, 1797 to Charles Lyell, the son of a wealthy gentleman who inherited a large estate in Scotland.

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Childhood & Early Life

The eldest of 10 children, he attended several private schools throughout his early life. Later he studied at the ‘Exeter College’, Oxford from 1816 to 1819, graduating BA second in classics.

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Childhood & Early Life

After graduating, he moved to London to study law, although his weak eyesight made his studies difficult. To find relief, he turned to geological work outdoors, which led to his career in geology.

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Childhood & Early Life

He met renowned naturalist Georges Cuvier and Alexander von Humboldt on a trip to Paris in 1823, and had the opportunity to study the Paris Basin.

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Career

In 1824, he studied sediment formation in freshwater lakes close to Kinnordy, Scotland.

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Career

In 1825, Lyell was admitted to the bar, although his father's financial support allowed him to practice geology more than law. He published his first geological papers that year.

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Career

While still practicing law, Lyell began planning a book to stress that there are natural explanations for geological phenomena and that these forces are unchanging through time.

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Career

Between 1828 and 1829, he studied the region of Mt. Etna, where he found evidence to confirm his beliefs.

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Career

He wrote 'Principles of Geology,' which challenged many popular geological theories of the time and explained earthquakes, volcanoes, and other geological principles.

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Major Works

He published 'Antiquity of Man' in 1863, which discussed proof of the long existence of humans on the earth.

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Major Works