One of the key works in the nineteenth-century battle between science and Scripture, Charles Lyell's Principles of Geology (1830-33) sought to explain the geological state of the modern Earth by considering the long-term effects of observable natural phenomena. Written with clarity and a dazzling intellectual passion, it is both a seminal work of modern geology and a compelling precursor to Darwinism, exploring the evidence for radical changes in climate and geography across the ages and speculating on the progressive development of life. A profound influence on Darwin, Principles of Geology also captured the imagination of contemporaries such as Melville, Emerson, Tennyson and George Eliot, transforming science with its depiction of the powerful forces that shape the natural world.

Produktinformation

Utgivningsdatum:1997-11-27
Mått:129 x 199 x 29 mm
Vikt:384 g
Format:Häftad
Språk:Engelska
Antal sidor:528
Förlag:Penguin Books Ltd
ISBN:9780140435283

Utforska kategorier

Naturhistoriska böcker inom Djur och Natur
Biovetenskap inom Naturvetenskap och teknik
Essäer inom Skönlitteratur

Mer om författaren

SIR CHARLES LYELL (1797-1875), British geologist. Lyell is most famous for his great geological opus: The Principles of Geology: Being an Attempt to Explain the Former Changes of the Earth's Surface, by Reference to Causes now in Operation (3 vols 1830-33).Jim Secord is a lecturer in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge and is the author of Controversy in Victorian Geology (1986).

Innehållsförteckning

Edited with an Introduction by James A. SecordNumbers in italics refer to chapters included only as summaries or in brief extractsList of IllustrationsIntroductionFurther ReadingA Note on This EditionVolume I (1830)1: Objects and Nature of Geology2-4: Historical Sketch of the Progress of Geology5: Theoretical Errors which have Retarded the Progress of Geology6: Assumed Discordance of the Ancient and Existing Causes of Change Controverted - Climate7: Climate, continued8: Climate, continued9. Theory of the Progressive Development of Organic Life10-17: Aqueous Causes18-22: Igneous Causes23-24: Earthquakes and their Effects25: Earthquakes, continued - Temple of Serapis26. Causes of Earthquakes and VolcanosVolume II (1832)1: Changes of the Organic World - Reality of Species2: Theory of the Transmutation of Species Untenable3: Limits of the Variability of Species4: Hybrids5-7: Geographical Distribution of Species8: Changes in the Animate World, which Tend to the Extinction of Species9: Changes in the Animate World, which Tend to the Extinction of Species, continued10: Changes in the Inorganic World, Tending to the Extinction of Species11: Whether the Extinction and Creation of Species Can Now be in Progress12: Modifications in Physical Geography Caused by Plants, the Inferior Animals, and Man13-16, 17: How the Remains of Man and his Works are becoming Fossil beneath the Waters18: Corals and Coral ReefsVolume III (1833)1: Methods of Theorizing in Geology2: General Arrangement of the Materials Composing the Earth's Crust3: Different Circumstances under which the Secondary and Tertiary Formations may have Originated4: Determination of the Relative Ages of Rocks5: Classification of Tertiary Formations in Chronological Order6-7: Newer Pliocene Formations - Sicily8: Rocks of the Same Age in Etna9: Origin of the Newer Pliocene Strata of Sicily10-26: Former Changes of the Earth's SurfaceConcluding RemarksGlossaryNotesBibliography of ReviewsIndex>