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The Distortion of Werner in Lyell's Principles of Geology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 January 2009

Alexander M. Ospovat
Alexander M. Ospovat
Affiliation:
Department of History, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74074, U.S.A.
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Extract

Lyell's performance as a historian was both fruitful and remarkable. He wrote well; his style was lucid; and he wrote with conviction and authority. In his history of geology we find none of the usual historians’ dodges. No ‘one of the first’, no ‘probablies’, no ‘it would seem that way’. Lyell did not have to resort to such ruses, because he wrote about the truth—the truth, that is, as he saw it. Most of his statements of fact are not incorrect. But in selecting his facts, he left out anything that did not suit his purpose. Other historians of the geological sciences have pointed out the polemical nature of Lyell's history in general. My investigation is limited to a single chapter of his history, Chapter IV of the Principles, and to his treatment of Werner.

Type
Research Article
Information
The British Journal for the History of Science , Volume 9 , Issue 2 , July 1976 , pp. 190 - 198
Copyright
Copyright © British Society for the History of Science 1976

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