Lyell, Charles

Abstract Charles Lyell (1797–1875) a British geologist, well known for his ‘uniformitarian’ geology, his arguments on geological time and the Earth's age, his influence on Darwin and the application of Darwinian theory to humans. His theory involved the piecemeal extinction and emergence of species, the latter by some unknown process. The gradual changeover of forms allowed a ‘statistical’ subdivision of the Tertiary according to the percentages of extant species. Lyell envisaged the slow rise and fall of land in different parts of the globe (which idea was supported by observations of the so‐called ‘Temple of Serapis’ near Naples). Such movements led to climate changes, according to the proportion of high land located at high latitudes at different times. Thereby, Lyell tried to accommodate the evidence for the ‘Ice Age’.