Lyell and the Principles of Geology

Abstract Lyell’s Principles of Geology is still treated more often as an icon to be revered than as the embodiment of a complex scientific argument rooted in its own time and place. This paper describes briefly the origins of Lyell’s project, in the international geological debates of the 1820s and in his own early research; the structure of argument of the first edition (1830–1833), and its relation to its intended readership; and the modification of the work in subsequent editions, and the transformation of its strategy in response to its critical evaluation by other geologists. The fluidity of the Principles (and its offshoot the Elements of Geology) reflects the ever-changing interaction between Lyell and his fellow geologists, and between them and a much wider public, during one of the most creative periods in the history of geological science. Lyell’s scientific stature is best appreciated if he is placed not on a pedestal but among his peers, in debates at the Geological Society and elsewhere.

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