James Hutton and Charles Lyell were geologists whose ideas strongly influenced Darwin\'s thinking. What were the ideas each of them contributed? James Hutton Charles Lyell What is the importance of the principle of uniformitarianism? Solution James Hutton: He hypothesized that the Earth\'s interior is hot. There are processes occuring on Earth; these processes led to formation of Earth. The same processes are still going on, and would be responsible for further changes on the Earth. Hutton explained these ideas in his book, The Theory of Earth in 1795. According to Hutton, changes in geology, are related to large catastrophes recurring again and again on Earth. These ideas were criticized by some religious geologists. Charles Lyell: Hutton\'s ideas were further rephrased and republished by Lyell. He gave the principle of Uniformitarianism. In his book, Lyell explained Hutton\'s ideas in great detail. These ideas of Hutton inspired Charles Darwin. He sailed on Beagle to find out where the Earth came up from. During his voyage, he made many great discoveries, out of which natural selection is the main one. So, it was Hutton and Lyell, who galvanized initial thoughts in Darwin\'s mind..