Principles of Geology is a book by the Scottish geologist Charles Lyell. Motto: (Latin for No one provokes me with impunity)1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots 2 Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister of the UK Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I... Charles Lyell The frontispiece from Principles of Geology Sir Charles Lyell, 1st Baronet, KT, (November 14, 1797 – February 22, 1875), Scottish lawyer, geologist, and populariser of uniformitarianism. ...

First published in three volumes in 1830–33, it established Lyell's credentials as an important geological theorist and popularised the doctrine of uniformitarianism (first suggested by James Hutton). The central argument in Principles was that "the present is the key to the past:" That geological remains from the distant past can, and should, be explained by reference to geological processes now in operation and thus directly observable. Lyell's interpretation of geologic change as the steady accumulation of minute changes over enormously long spans of time was also a central theme in the Principles, and a powerful influence on the young Charles Darwin, who was given Volume 1 of the first edition by Robert FitzRoy, captain of HMS Beagle, just before they set out on the voyage of the Beagle. On their first stop ashore at St Jago Darwin found rock formations which seen "through Lyell's eyes" gave him a revolutionary insight into the geological history of the island, an insight he applied throughout his travels. While in South America Darwin received Volume 2 which firmly rejected the idea of organic evolution, proposing "Centres of Creation" to explain diversity and territory of species. Darwin's ideas gradually moved beyond this, but in geology he was very much Lyell's disciple and sent home extensive evidence and theorising supporting Lyell's uniformitarianism, including Darwin's ideas about the formation of atolls. Uniformitarianism, in the philosophy of science, is the assumption that the natural processes operating in the past are the same as those that can be observed operating in the present. ... James Hutton, painted by Abner Lowe. ... Charles Robert Darwin (12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an eminent English naturalist who achieved lasting fame by convincing the scientific community that species develop over time from a common origin. ... Robert FitzRoy Vice Admiral Robert FitzRoy (July 5, 1805 - April 30, 1865) achieved lasting fame as the captain of HMS Beagle and as a pioneering meteorologist who made accurate weather forecasting a reality, also proving an able surveyor and hydrographer as well as Governor of New Zealand. ... HMS Beagle was a Cherokee class 10-gun brig of the Royal Navy, named after the beagle, a breed of dog. ... On its second voyage, much of it chronicled by Charles Darwin in his book, The Voyage of the Beagle, the HMS Beagle crossed the Atlantic towards Tierra Del Fuego, and carried out surveying especially of the West coast of South America, as well as a number of Pacific islands. ... Santiago (Portuguese for Saint James), or Santiagu in the local Bádiu language, is the largest island of Cape Verde, its most important agricultural centre and home to half the nations population. ... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... This article is about evolution in biology. ... An atoll is a type of low, coral island found in tropical oceans and consisting of a coral-algal reef usually surrounding an interior body of water called a lagoon or peninsula. ...

External links

• Principles of Geology on Google Book Search

This article about a science book is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.