Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory“I often said before starting, that I had no doubt I should frequently repent of the whole undertaking.” So wrote Charles Darwin aboard The Beagle, bound for the Galapagos Islands and what would arguably become the greatest and most controversial discovery in scientific history. But the theory of evolution did not spring full-blown from the head of Darwin. Since the dawn of humanity, priests, philosophers, and scientists have debated the origin and development of life on earth, and with modern science, that debate shifted into high gear. In this lively, deeply erudite work, Pulitzer Prize–winning science historian Edward J. Larson takes us on a guided tour of Darwin’s “dangerous idea,” from its theoretical antecedents in the early nineteenth century to the brilliant breakthroughs of Darwin and Wallace, to Watson and Crick’s stunning discovery of the DNA double helix, and to the triumphant neo-Darwinian synthesis and rising sociobiology today. Along the way, Larson expertly places the scientific upheaval of evolution in cultural perspective: the social and philosophical earthquake that was the French Revolution; the development, in England, of a laissez-faire capitalism in tune with a Darwinian ethos of “survival of the fittest”; the emergence of Social Darwinism and the dark science of eugenics against a backdrop of industrial revolution; the American Christian backlash against evolutionism that culminated in the famous Scopes trial; and on to today’s world, where religious fundamentalists litigate for the right to teach “creation science” alongside evolution in U.S. public schools, even as the theory itself continues to evolve in new and surprising directions. Throughout, Larson trains his spotlight on the lives and careers of the scientists, explorers, and eccentrics whose collaborations and competitions have driven the theory of evolution forward. Here are portraits of Cuvier, Lamarck, Darwin, Wallace, Haeckel, Galton, Huxley, Mendel, Morgan, Fisher, Dobzhansky, Watson and Crick, W. D. Hamilton, E. O. Wilson, and many others. Celebrated as one of mankind’s crowning scientific achievements and reviled as a threat to our deepest values, the theory of evolution has utterly transformed our view of life, religion, origins, and the theory itself, and remains controversial, especially in the United States (where 90% of adults do not subscribe to the full Darwinian vision). Replete with fresh material and new insights, Evolution will educate and inform while taking readers on a fascinating journey of discovery. |
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Page xv
... living things. We became interconnected competitors rather than separate creations. We now live in the shadow—or the illumination—of this modern biologic worldview. The history of modern evolutionary science does not begin with Charles ...
... living things. We became interconnected competitors rather than separate creations. We now live in the shadow—or the illumination—of this modern biologic worldview. The history of modern evolutionary science does not begin with Charles ...
Page 7
... living form to humans at its top. The idea within biology of seeing an anthropomorphic order in all living things gave way to studying them on their own terms. Cuvier was the first naturalist to have at his disposal a suitably complete ...
... living form to humans at its top. The idea within biology of seeing an anthropomorphic order in all living things gave way to studying them on their own terms. Cuvier was the first naturalist to have at his disposal a suitably complete ...
Page 8
... living ones—definitively identify them. Doing so for all of the earth's past and present species became Cuvier's goal for science—and he himself would launch the effort, doing his own best work with fishes and four-footed mammals. A ...
... living ones—definitively identify them. Doing so for all of the earth's past and present species became Cuvier's goal for science—and he himself would launch the effort, doing his own best work with fishes and four-footed mammals. A ...
Page 10
... Living in a particularly volatile era of French religious history characterized by alternating phases of Enlightenment scepticism, Revolutionary atheism, and Restoration Catholicism, Cuvier stood apart from most others within the ...
... Living in a particularly volatile era of French religious history characterized by alternating phases of Enlightenment scepticism, Revolutionary atheism, and Restoration Catholicism, Cuvier stood apart from most others within the ...
Page 14
... living things spontaneously generated on the earth as it cooled, he added in later volumes. For proof, he offered crude experiments with molten iron balls, whose cooled surfaces conveniently wrinkled like the earth's terrestrial surface ...
... living things spontaneously generated on the earth as it cooled, he added in later volumes. For proof, he offered crude experiments with molten iron balls, whose cooled surfaces conveniently wrinkled like the earth's terrestrial surface ...
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accepted adaptive American animals apes appeared Asa Gray became beginning believed biologists biology breeding British Bryan called Cambridge carried cause century Charles Darwin Christian comparative concept continued created creation Cuvier Darwinian direction early earth eugenics evidence evolutionary evolved example existence explained field finches findings forms fossil fossil record Galton genes genetic geologic Georges hereditary human Huxley idea individual inheritance Islands later leading living London Lyell means mind mutations natural selection naturalists never noted observed organic Origin of Species plants popular population position present progress race reason religion religious remained schools scientific scientists served similar simply social society special creation suggested synthesis teaching theory of evolution thinking thought tion traits turned types United University University Press variations various Wallace Wilson wrote York