"The purpose of this paper is to examine closely the most important part of Lyell's theory of the earth, his theory of climate, in order to explain what Lyell's view of earth history was, what its origins were, and how it was related to Lyell's principle of reasoning' and to the available geological and paleontological evidence. I intend to argue that Lyell's version of the principle of uniformity resulted from his desire to justify a highly speculative interpretation of the evidence about climate, an interpretation whose purpose was to reserve man's unique status in creation."
Journal of the history of biology Vol. 10 (1977), p. 317-339