Evolution and the Victorians: Science, Culture and Politics in Darwin’s Britain

Description

Charles Darwin’s discovery of evolution by natural selection was the greatest scientific discovery of all time. The publication of his 1859 book, On the Origin of Species, is normally taken as the point at which evolution erupted as an idea, radically altering how the Victorians saw themselves and others. This book tells a very different story. Darwin’s discovery was part of a long process of negotiation between imagination, faith and knowledge which began long before 1859 and which continues to this day. Evolution and the Victorians provides historians with a survey of the thinkers and debates implicated in this process, from the late 18th century to the First World War. It sets the history of science in its social and cultural context. Incorporating text-boxes, illustrations and a glossary of specialist terms, it provides students with the background narrative and core concepts necessary to engage with specialist historians such as Adrian Desmond, Bernard Lightman and James Secord. Conlin skilfully synthesises material from a range of sources to show the ways in which the discovery of evolution was a collaborative enterprise pursued in all areas of Victorian society, including many that do not at first appear “scientific”. Title Page Copyright Page Contents Acknowledgements List of illustrations Timeline A note on currency Introduction: ‘I think’ Darwin’s problem with species Evolution after Darwin Playing Huxley’s game Further reading Part One The Longest Discovery, 1750–1870 Chapter One Natural theology Revolutionary appetencies Malthus and population The invisible hand Further reading Chapter Two Comparative anatomy Lamarck and Cuvier Crossing the channel The Owenite settlement Further reading Chapter Three Writing The Origin The voyage of HMS Beagle Mental rioting Alfred Russel Wallace Further reading Chapter Four Reading The Origin ‘One long argument’ Darwin’s bulldog The Descent of Man A Darwinian revolution? Further reading Part Two Lines of Descent, 1850–1914 Chapter Five Christian evolution? Charles Kingsley’s ‘natural theology of the future’ The apostle of the flesh Reproduce, rinse, repeat Dogmatic atheism versus agnosticism Further reading Chapter Six Imperial evolution? ‘Greater Britons’ and other races Absence of mind? Enlightenment and Emancipation Ethnology or anthropology? Escape or extinction? Further reading Chapter Seven Progressive evolution? Herbert Spencer, social science and ‘Social Darwinism’ Springs of action: Childhood and youth Statics and kinetics The laws of development Man Versus the State Further reading Chapter Eight Domestic evolution? Making a home for science Reading and rambling Treasuring and teaching Further reading Chapter Nine Sustainable evolution? Alfred Russel Wallace and the Wonderful Century Spiritualist science Land and labour The view from Davos Further reading Conclusion: The Longest Discovery Further readin Glossary Index