Principles of Geology Paperback by Charles Lyell; Edited with an Introduction by James A. Secord

Product Details

• Publisher: Penguin Classics (1998-06-01)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 528 pages
• ISBN-13: 9780140435283
• Item Weight: 396.9 grams
• Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.0 x 1.2 cm

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.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

About the Author

Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) was a British geologist 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).