Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
time. From this he deduced that the fossils were geologically
'recent', that a hundred thousand years was geologically short,
and that the age of the Earth must be immense.
Lyell's approach to geology was persuasive and he soon
became an important influence over many scientific figures of
the time, one of whom was Charles Darwin. It is not always
appreciated that Darwin was first and foremost a geologist.
Having been fascinated by the subject as a boy he went from
finding formal instruction on geology 'intolerably dull' to being
a leading member of the Geological Society on his return from
the voyage of the Beagle. Four out of every five pages of notes
taken on the Beagle's voyage were on geological topics, and on
the few occasions that Darwin referred to himself as a scientist,
he called himself a geologist.
From the time Darwin read Lyell's newly published book on
board the Beagle in 1831, he recognised the significance of
Lyell's work: 'I had brought with me the first volume of Lyell's
'
Principles of Geology
', which I studied attentively: and this topic
was of the highest service to me in many ways. The very first
place which I examined showed me clearly the wonderful su-
periority of Lyell's manner of treating geology'. Within days of
his return from the voyage Darwin got in touch with Lyell and
they became lifelong friends. Through his geological observa-
tions, Lyell provided Darwin with the unfathomable amounts of
time required to unfold the evolution of life. In the process
Lyell influenced not only Darwin's geological conclusions, but
ultimately those on the origin of species, because, in the words
of Thomas Huxley, Darwin's great champion, 'biology takes its
time from geology'.
So at this point geology seemed to have turned full circle.
From the theological time restrictions of 6000 years for the
age of the Earth imposed by Archbishop Ussher, naturalists
such as Hutton and Lyell had observed the world around them
and conferred on geologists more time to play with than they
knew how to manage. Or had they?