Charles Lyell and Modern Geology

The life of Charles Lyell is singularly free from «moving accidents by flood and field.» Though he travelled much, he never, so far as can be ascertained, was in danger of life or limb, of brigand or beast. Thus his biography cannot offer the reader either the excitement of adventure, or the interest of an unwearied struggle with adverse conditions. But for all that, as it seems to me, it can teach a lesson of no little value. Lyell, while still a young man, determined that he would endeavor to put geology—then only beginning to rank as a science—on a more sound and philosophical basis. For years he was training himself by observation and travel; he was studiously aiming at precision of thought and expression, till «The Principles of Geology» had been completed and published. This book is his biography as penned by Prof. T. G. Bonney.