Volcanoes

Abstract

The greatest source of influence in Charles Darwin’s formulation of the evolutionary theory was Charles Lyell’s grand work, The Principles of Geology, the first volume of which was published in 1830 just before Darwin embarked on the voyage of the Beagle.1 For the first time, stratigraphical observations from geology and palaeontology were explaining earth history and the role of volcanic and earthquake action: it was on the young, volcanic Galapagos islands where Darwin came across the evidence for the theory of natural selection.