Quotes by Charles Lyell

About Charles Lyell:

Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet is best known as the author of Principles of Geology, which popularized James Hutton's concepts of uniformitarianism—the idea that the Earth was shaped by the same processes still in operation today. Principles of Geology also challenged theories popularized by Georges Cuvier, which were the most accepted and circulated ideas about geology in England at the time.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Hitherto, no rival hypothesis has been proposed as a substitute for the doctrine of transmutation; for .

Charles Lyell

I may conclude this chapter by quoting a saying of Professor , that whenever a new and startling fact is brought to light in science, people first say, 'it is not true,' then that 'it is contrary to religion,' and lastly, 'that everybody knew it befo...

Charles Lyell

Each species may have had its origin in a single pair, or individual, where an individual was sufficient, and species may have been created in succession at such times and in such places as to enable them to multiply and endure for an appointed perio...

Charles Lyell

It must have appeared almost as improbable to the earlier geologists, that the laws of earthquakes should one day throw light on the origin of mountains, as it must to the first astronomers, that the fall of an apple should assist in explaining the m...

Charles Lyell

Amidst the vicissitudes of the earth's surface, species cannot be immortal, but must perish, one after another, like the individuals which compose them. There is no possibility of escaping from this conclusion.

Charles Lyell

So far, therefore, as we can draw safe conclusions from a single specimen, there has been no marked change of race in the human population of Switzerland during the periods above considered.

Charles Lyell

In the shallow parts of many Swiss lakes, where there is a depth of no more than from 5 to 15 feet of water, ancient wooden piles are observed at the bottom sometimes worn down to the surface of the mud, sometimes projecting slightly above it.

Charles Lyell

In several sections, both natural in the banks of the Mississippi and its numerous arms, and where artificial canals had been cut, I observed erect stumps of trees, with their roots attached, buried in strata at different heights, one over the other.

Charles Lyell

It has long been a fact familiar to geologists, that, both on the east and west coasts of the central part of Scotland, there are lines of raised beaches, containing marine shells of the same species as those now inhabiting the neighbouring sea.

Charles Lyell

Such discoveries have led me, and other geologists, to reconsider the evidence previously derived from caves brought forward in proof of the high antiquity of Man.

Charles Lyell

In reply, I can only plead that a discovery which seems to contradict the general tenor of previous investigations is naturally received with much hesitation.

Charles Lyell

When on my return to England I showed the cast of the cranium to Professor Huxley, he remarked at once that it was the most ape-like skull he had ever beheld.

Charles Lyell

That ere long, now that curiosity has been so much excited on this subject, some human remains will be detected in the older alluvium of European valleys, I confidently expect.

Charles Lyell

In valley drift we meet commonly with the bones of quadrupeds which graze on plains bordering rivers.

Charles Lyell

No tools have yet been met with in any of the gravels occurring at the higher levels of the valley of the Seine; but no importance can be attached to this negative fact, as so little search has yet been made for them.

Charles Lyell

I long ago suggested the hypothesis, that in the basin of the Thames there are indications of a meeting in the Pleistocene period of a northern and southern fauna.

Charles Lyell

Never call an accountant a credit to his profession; a good accountant is a debit to his profession.

Charles Lyell

Author Bio

  • NameCharles Lyell
  • DescriptionBritish lawyer and geologist
  • AliasesSir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet
  • BornNovember 14, 1797
  • DiedFebruary 22, 1875
  • CountryUnited Kingdom
  • ProfessionGeologist; Translator
  • AwardsFellow Of The Royal Society; Copley Medal; Order Of Merit For Arts And Science; Royal Medal