Biography and Profile of Charles Lyell

Biography and Profile of Charles Lyell Learn more about famous geologist Charles Lyells life and his contributions to the Theory of Evolution. Early Life and Education: Born November 14, 1797 - Died February 22, 1875 Charles Lyell was born on November 14, 1797, in the Grampian Mountains near Forfarshire, Scotland. When Charles was only two years old, his parents relocated to Southampton, England near where his mothers family lived. Since Charles was the oldest of ten children in Lyell family, his father spent a lot of time helping to educate Charles in the sciences, and particularly nature. Charles spent many years in and out of expensive private schools but was said to prefer wandering and learning from his father. At the age of 19, Charles went off to Oxford to study mathematics and geology. He spent vacations from school traveling and making astute observations of geological formations. Charles Lyell graduated, with honors, with a Bachelors of Art in Classics in 1819. He continued his education and received a Masters of Art in 1821. Personal Life Instead of pursuing his love of Geology, Lyell moved to London and became a lawyer. However, his eyesight began to worsen as time went on and he eventually turned to Geology as a full-time career. In 1832, he married Mary Horner, the daughter of a colleague in the Geological Society of London. The couple had no children but instead spent their time traveling all over the world as Charles observed the Geology and wrote his field changing works. Charles Lyell was knighted and later bestowed with the title of Baronet. He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Biography Even while practicing law, Charles Lyell was actually doing more Geology than anything. His fathers wealth allowed him to travel and write instead of practicing law. He published his first scientific paper in 1825. Lyell was planning to write a book with radical new ideas for Geology. He set out to prove that all geologic processes were due to natural events rather than supernatural events. Up until his time, the formation and processes of the Earth were attributed to God or another higher being. Lyell was one of the first to propose these processes actually happened very slowly, and that the Earth was extremely ancient rather than the few thousand years old most Bible scholars purposed. Charles Lyell found his evidence when studying Mt. Etna in Italy. He returned to London in 1829 and wrote his most famous work Principles of Geology. The book included a large amount of data and very detailed explanations. He did not finish revisions on the book until 1833 after several more trips to get more data. Perhaps the most important idea to come out of Principles of Geology is Uniformitarianism. This theory states that all the natural laws of the universe that are in existence now existed at the beginning of time and all changes happened slowly over time and added up to larger changes. This was an idea that Lyell had first gotten from works by James Hutton. It was seen as the opposite of Georges Cuviers catastrophism. After finding much success with his book, Lyell headed to the United States to lecture and gather more data from the North American continent. He made many trips to the Eastern United States and Canada throughout the 1840s. The trips resulted in two new books, Travels in North America and A Second Visit to the United States in North America. Charles Darwin was greatly influenced by Lyells ideas of a slow, natural change of geological formations. Charles Lyell was an acquaintance of Captain FitzRoy, the captain of the HMS Beagle on Darwins voyages. FitzRoy gave Darwin a copy of Principles of Geology, which Darwin studied as they traveled and he collected data for his works. However, Lyell was not a firm believer in evolution. It wasnt until Darwin published On the Origin of Species that Lyell began to adopt the idea that species change over time. In 1863, Lyell wrote and published ​The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man which combined Darwins Theory of Evolution through Natural Selection and his own ideas rooted in Geology. Lyells staunch Christianity was apparent in his treatment of the Theory of Evolution as a possibility, but not a certainty.

Descriptions of Nine Roman Military Leaders

Descriptions of Nine Roman Military Leaders Agrippa: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (56-12 B.C.) Agrippa was a renowned Roman general and close friend of Octavian (Augustus). Agrippa was consul first in 37 B.C. He was also governor of Syria.As general, Agrippa defeated the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. Upon his victory, Augustus awarded his niece Marcella to Agrippa for a wife. Then, in 21 B.C., Augustus married his own daughter Julia to Agrippa. By Julia, Agrippa had a daughter, Agrippina, and three sons, Gaius and Lucius Caesar and Agrippa Postumus (so named because Agrippa was dead by the time he was born). Ancient Roman NamesTable of the Consuls of Rome Brutus: Lucius Junius Brutus (6th C. B.C.) According to legend, Brutus led the revolt against Tarquinius Superbus, an Etruscan king of Rome, and proclaimed Rome a Republic in 509 B.C. Brutus is listed as one of the first two consuls of Republican Rome. He is not to be confused with Marcus Brutus, the first century B.C. statesman made famous by the Shakespearean line et tu Brute. There are other legends about Brutus including his having his own sons executed. Wars of the Roman Republic Camillus: Marcus Furius Camillus (fl. c. 396 B.C.) Marcus Furius Camillus led the Romans into battle when they defeated the Veientians, but was soon afterward sent into exile because of how he distributed the spoils. Camillus was later recalled to act as dictator and led the Romans (successfully) against the invading Gauls following the defeat at the Battle of the Allia. Tradition says Camillus, arriving at the time the Romans were weighing out their ransom for Brennus, defeated the Gauls. Veientine WarsBattle of the Allia Cincinnatus: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (fl. 458 B.C.) Another of the military leaders known mostly through legend, Cincinnatus was plowing his field, when he learned he had been appointed dictator. The Romans had appointed Cincinnatus dictator for six months so he could defend the Romans against the neighboring Aequi who had surrounded the Roman army and the consul Minucius in the Alban Hills. Cincinnatus rose to the occasion, defeated the Aequi, made them pass under the yoke to show their subjugation, gave up the title of dictator sixteen days after it had been granted, and promptly returned to his farm. Expansion of Rome in Italy Horatius: (late 6th C. B.C.) Horatius was a legendary heroic leader of the Roman forces against the Etruscans. He deliberately stood alone against the Etruscans on a bridge while the Romans were destroying the bridge from their side to keep the Etruscans from using it to get across the Tiber. In the end, when the bridge was destroyed, Horatius jumped into the river and swam armed to safety. Bridges Over the Tiber Marius: Gaius Marius (155-86 B.C.) Neither from the city of Rome, nor a pedigreed patrician, Arpinum-born Gaius Marius still managed to be consul 7 times, marry into the family of Julius Caesar, and reform the army.When serving as a legate in Africa, Marius so ingratiated himself with the troops they wrote to Rome to recommend Marius as consul, claiming he would quickly end the conflict with Jugurtha.When Marius needed more troops to defeat Jugurtha, he instituted new policies that changed the complexion of the army. Marius Scipio Africanus: Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (235-183 B.C.) Scipio Africanus is the Roman commander who defeated Hannibal at the Battle of Zama in the Second Punic War using tactics hed learned from the Carthaginian military leader. Since Scipios victory was in Africa, following his triumph he was allowed to take the agnomen Africanus. He later received the name Asiaticus when serving under his brother Lucius Cornelius Scipio against Antiochus III of Syria in the Seleucid War. Second Punic WarScipio Africanus Stilicho: Flavius Stilicho (died A.D. 408) A Vandal, Stilicho was a great military leader during the reigns of Theodosius I and Honorius. Theodosius made Stilicho magister equitum and then made him supreme commander of the western armies. Although Stilicho accomplished much in the fight against Goths and other invaders, Stilicho was eventually beheaded and other members of his family were also killed. Sulla: Lucius Cornelius Sulla (138-78 B.C.) Sulla was a Roman general who vied successfully with Marius for leadership of the command against Mithridates VI of Pontus. In the following civil war Sulla defeated the followers of Marius, had the soldiers of Marius killed, and had himself declared dictator for life in 82 B.C. He had proscription lists drawn up. After he had made the changes he thought necessary to the government of Rome to bring it back in line with the old values Sulla stepped down in 79 B.C. and died a year later.