The Beak of the Finch

by

Jonathan Weiner

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Charles Lyell Character Analysis

Charles Lyell was a Scottish geologist whose Principles of Geology, published in 1833, presented a theory that the Earth was still changing and evolving. Lyell’s views were deemed heretical at the time—but they greatly influenced Charles Darwin, who took Lyell’s position a step farther and posited that not only the Earth, but the species that called it home, were in a state of constant flux.
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Charles Lyell Character Timeline in The Beak of the Finch

The timeline below shows where the character Charles Lyell appears in The Beak of the Finch. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2: What Darwin Saw
Natural Selection and Evolution as Ongoing Processes  Theme Icon
Nature and Humanity Theme Icon
...time was full of scholars and thinkers who debated whether life was fixed or not— Charles Lyell , one such man, suggested a then-heretical view that while species were fixed, the Earth... (full context)