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was particularly noted for a menagerieof wild animals； some large and dangerous； that were allowed to roam through his house andgarden； and for his desire to eat his way through every animal in creation。 depending onwhim and availability； guests to buckland’s house might be served baked guinea pig； mice inbatter； roasted hedgehog； or boiled southeast asian sea slug。 buckland was able to find meritin them all； except the mon garden mole； which he declared disgusting。 almostinevitably； he became the leading authority on coprolites—fossilized feces—and had a tablemade entirely out of his collection of specimens。
even when conducting serious science his manner was generally singular。 once mrs。
buckland found herself being shaken awake in the middle of the night； her husband crying inexcitement： “my dear； i believe that cheirotherium ’s footsteps are undoubtedly testudinal。”
together they hurried to the kitchen in their nightclothes。 mrs。 buckland made a flour paste；which she spread across the table； while the reverend buckland fetched the family tortoise。
plunking it onto the paste； they goaded it forward and discovered to their delight that itsfootprints did indeed match those of the fossil buckland had been studying。 charles darwinthought buckland a buffoon—that was the word he used—but lyell appeared to find himinspiring and liked him well enough to go touring with him in scotland in 1824。 it was soonafter this trip that lyell decided to abandon a career in law and devote himself to geology full…time。
lyell was extremely shortsighted and went through most of his life with a pained squint；which gave him a troubled air。 （eventually he would lose his sight altogether。） his other slightpeculiarity was the habit； when distracted by thought； of taking up improbable positions onfurniture—lying across two chairs at once or “resting his head on the seat of a chair； whilestanding up” （to quote his friend darwin）。 often when lost in thought he would slink so lowin a chair that his buttocks would all but touch the floor。 lyell’s only real job in life was asprofessor of geology at king’s college in london from 1831 to 1833。 it was around this timethat he produced the principles of geology； published in three volumes between 1830 and1833； which in many ways consolidated and elaborated upon the thoughts first voiced byhutton a generation earlier。 （although lyell never read hutton in the original； he was a keenstudent of playfair’s reworked version。）between hutton’s day and lyell’s there arose a new geological controversy； which largelysuperseded； but is often confused with； the old neptunian–plutonian dispute。 the new battlebecame an argument between catastrophism and uniformitarianism—unattractive terms for animportant and very long…running dispute。 catastrophists； as you might expect from the name；believed that the earth was shaped by abrupt cataclysmic events—floods principally； which iswhy catastrophism and neptunism are often wrongly bundled together。 catastrophism wasparticularly forting to clerics like buckland because it allowed them to incorporate thebiblical flood of noah into serious scientific discussions。 uniformitarians by contrast believedthat changes on earth were gradual and that nearly all earth processes happened slowly； overimmense spans of time。 hutton was much more the father of the notion than lyell； but it waslyell most people read； and so he became in most people’s minds； then and now； the father ofmodern geological thought。
lyell believed that the earth’s shifts were uniform and steady—that everything that hadever happened in the past could be explained by events still going on today。 lyell and hisadherents didn’t just disdain catastrophism； they detested it。 catastrophists believed thatextinctions were part of a series in which animals were repeatedly wiped out and replacedwith new sets—a belief that the naturalist t。 h。 huxley mockingly likened to “a succession ofrubbers of whist； at the end of which the players upset the table and called for a new pack。” itwas too convenient a way to explain the unknown。 “never was there a dogma more calculatedto foster indolence； and to blunt the keen edge of curiosity；” sniffed lyell。
lyell’s oversights were not inconsiderable。 he failed to explain convincingly howmountain ranges were formed and overlooked glaciers as an agent of change。 he refused toaccept louis agassiz’s idea of ice ages—“the refrigeration of the globe；” as he dismissivelytermed it—and was confident that mammals “would be found in the oldest fossiliferousbeds。” he rejected the notion that animals and plants suffered sudden annihilations； andbelieved that all the principal animal groups—mammals； reptiles； fish； and so on—hadcoexisted since the dawn of time。 on all of these he would ultimately be proved wrong。
yet it would be nearly impossible to overstate lyell’s influence。 the principles of geologywent through twelve editions in lyell’s lifetime and contained notions that shaped geological thinking far into the twentieth century。 darwin took a first edition with him on thebeaglevoyage and wrote afterward that “the great merit of the principles was that it altered thewhole tone of one’s mind； and therefore that； when seeing a thing never seen by lyell； one yetsaw it partially through his eyes。” in short； he thought him nearly a god； as did many of hisgeneration。 it is a testament to the strength of lyell’s sway that in the 1980s when geologistshad to abandon just a part of it to acmodate the impact theory of extinctions； it nearlykilled them。 but that is another chapter。
meanwhile； geology had a great deal of sorting out to do； and not all of it went smoothly。
from the outset geologists tried to categorize rocks by the periods in which they were laiddown； but there were often bitter disagreements about where to put the dividing lines—nonemore so than a long…running debate that became known as the great devonian controversy。
the issue arose when the reverend adam sedgwick of cambridge claimed for the cambrianperiod a layer of rock that roderick murchison believed belonged rightly to the silurian。 thedispute raged for years and grew