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Giving Darwin time for evolution

When Charles Darwin set sail in 1831 on the voyage which would take him to the Galapagos Islands and his famous theory of evolution, he took a book with him that was crucial to his research.

On board the Beagle was the first volume of The Principles of Geology, published in January 1830 by Charles Lyell, Professor of Geology at King’s.

Influencing Darwin

‘The book was of the highest service to me in many ways,’ Darwin said. ‘It showed me clearly the wonderful superiority of Lyell’s manner of treating geology, compared with that of any other author.’

Charles-lyell

What Lyell’s theories really gave Darwin was time. His work showed that the earth must be millions of years older than Archbishop Ussher’s 17th-century claim that the world had been created at precisely nine o’clock in the morning of 23 October, 4004 BC. Darwin’s theory of the origin of species through natural selection required the earth to be much older, in order to allow time for the many generations necessary for evolutionary changes, and Lyell provided the evidence he needed.

Time at King’s

Lyell published the second and third volumes of Principles in 1832 and 1833, the former during his time at King’s, and his lectures at the university attracted hundreds of members of the public as well as King’s students, becoming the foundation for his Elements of Geology, published in 1838.

Find out more about Sir Charles Lyell and other famous King’s alumni by visiting our alumni pages.

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