Synopses & Reviews
Upon publication, Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species excited much debate and controversy, challenging the foundations of Christianity, nonetheless underpinning the Victorian concept of progress. It still evokes powerful and contradictory responses today. Peter Bowler's study of Darwin's life, first published in 1990, combines biography and cultural history. Emphasizing in particular the impact of Darwin's work, he shows how Darwin's contemporaries were unable to appreciate precisely those aspects of his thinking that are considered scientifically important today. He also demonstrates that Darwin was a product of his time, but he also transcended it by creating an idea capable of being exploited by twentieth-century scientists and intellectuals who had very different values from his own.
Review
"Peter Bowler has fulfilled the obligation to explain the significance of Darwin's work to a more general audience, seizing the opportunity to transmit the conclusions of recent scholarship." British Journal for the History of Science
Review
"...a comprehensive survey of Darwin in and out of his own time and a sound introduction to recent scholarship." Times Literary Supplement
Synopsis
Combined biography and cultural history, extending to Darwin's influence upon the twentieth century.
Synopsis
Darwinâs enormous impact on both science and culture is still very evident today. The Origin of Species excited much debate and controversy, challenging the foundations of Christianity, yet underpinning the Victorian concept of progress. However, he was not first to publish evolutionary ideas and his theory of natural selection was not accepted by many of his contemporaries. This study combines biography and cultural history, showing Darwinâs transcendence of his time, creating an idea exploited by twentieth-century scientists with different values from his own.
Synopsis
Combining biography and cultural history, this study of the controversial Darwin's life and influence shows how his contemporaries were unable to appreciate precisely those aspects of his thinking considered scientifically important today.
Table of Contents
General editor's preface; Preface; 1. The problem of interpretation; 2. Evolution before The Origin of Species; 3. The young Darwin; 4. The voyage of the Beagle; 5. The crucial years, London 1837-1842; 6. The years of development; 7. Going public; 8. The emergence of Darwinism; 9. The opponents of Darwinism; 10. Human origins; 11. Darwin and the modern world; Notes; Bibliography; Index.