Sir Charles Lyell (1797-1875) was one of the most renowned geologists of the nineteenth century. He was awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society in 1858 and the Wollaston Medal by the Geological Society of London in 1866 for his contributions to geology. Lyell's most important contribution to modern geology was his refining and popularising the geological concept of uniformitarianism, the idea that the earth has been formed through slow-acting...