charles_darwin

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Overview human institutions progressing or evolving into something better has become a central idea in Western thought. Given the centrality of the idea of evolution in Western (and world) thought, it is surprising to note that Darwin’s reputation has suffered since his death. Darwin has been both overrated and underappreciated. On the one hand, there is the tendency to associate all ideas about evolution with Darwin. That is incorrect. For example, Darwin did not discover the significance of genes. The credit for this discovery belongs to men such as Mendel, de Vries, and William Bateson (1861–1926). Darwin’s ignorance about chromosomes and genes meant that he was never able to explain logically and convincingly why natural selection worked. The changes in the successive editions of The Origin of Species were partly an attempt by Darwin to ‘‘fix’’ this problem. In the end, Darwin seemed to be following the theory of the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck who suggested that characteristics of organisms were transferred whole from the parent to the progeny. (For example, the characteristic of ‘‘longneckness’’ would be transferred from one generation to the next with the latter becoming a giraffe.) Knowledge about chromosomes and genes demonstrated that Lamarck and the later Darwin were wrong. Darwin did not develop the whole theory of evolution. Conversely, it is equally inaccurate to think of Darwin as one of many scientists who developed the theory of evolution. As Darwin complained in his autobiography, some people thought, and some still do, that Darwin was simply a synthesizer of other scientists’ research. 20 But Darwin received one of the highest recognitions for research in geology, the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London, in 1859, seven years before Charles Lyell, one of the greatest geologists of the nineteenth century. The fact that he received the highest recognition from the Royal Society, the Copley Medal, in 1864 for ‘‘researches in geology, zoology, and botanical physiology’’ proves that Darwin was considered an important scientist in his own right. 21 When contemporary opponents of evolution, such as creationists and supporters of Intelligent Design, complain about the impact of Darwin, they are targeting the right person. Darwin’s theory is the preeminent idea in the theory of evolution. In contrast to the treatment of scientists such as Galileo, many of Darwin’s contemporaries appreciated the importance and impact of his ideas. When Darwin died in 1882, he was immediately recognized as one of the great minds of his and any other generation. Darwin was buried in Westminster Abbey, one of the two most important churches in Britain, next to the memorial to Sir Isaac Newton. In Italy, students at the University of Naples held a meeting 11
12 CHARLES DARWIN AND THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES in Darwin’s honor in May, the month after he died. In Germany, a wax figure of Darwin was placed in the Berlin Panopticon, the famous German waxworks. Darwin was a national and international figure. To study the life of Darwin then is to study one of the great figures of science and of the Modern Age. ‘‘Charles Darwin is one of the greatest among the creators of modern science,’’ according to Theodosius Dobzhansky (1900–1975), the American geneticist and evolutionary biologist. 22 In its historical context, The Origin of Species is not only the explanation of a scientific theory, it is one of the bases of modern science. Darwin’s ideas represent a key component of scientific thought specifically, and Western thought in general. It is no wonder that the historian John Barrow called The Origin of Species ‘‘a pioneering work.’’ 23 Notes 1. The publisher John Murray suggested changing the title of the sixth English edition, which was published in 1872, to The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. The binding of the fifth English edition already had the shortened title. 2. See Philip H. Wicksteed and Francis M. Cornford, trans., The Physics (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1957), I: 171. Aristotle wrote The Physics in B.C.E. 350. 3. Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 4th edition (London: John Murray, 1866), xiii [Penguin Classics, 53–54]. 4. In Europe and North America, most people believed that the Earth and life on it was approximately six thousand years old. The first four thousand years before the Christian or Common Era were calculated by adding the genealogy lists found in the Bible. See Genesis 11:10–26, 1 Chronicles 1:1–8:39, and Matthew 1:1–17. 5. This phrase was used in the title or the preface of each book. 6. Thomas Chalmers, On the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God as Manifested in the Adaptation of External Nature to the Moral and Intellectual Constitution of Man (London: William Pickering, 1833), II: 128. 7. William Kirby, On the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God as Manifested in the Creation of Animals and in their History, Habits and Instincts (London: William Pickering, 1835), I: 388–389. 8. William Buckland, Geology and Mineralogy Considered with Reference to Natural Theology (London: William Pickering, 1837), I: viii.
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Page 6: CONTENTS Series Foreword by Linda S
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Page 12 and 13: PREFACE In 1985, the Italian scient
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Page 17 and 18: xvi Chronology 27 December: HMS Bea
Page 19 and 20: xviii September: A Monograph on the
Page 21 and 22: xx 8 March: Gregor Mendel presents
Page 23 and 24: xxii 1909 William Bateson coins the
Page 26 and 27: CHAPTER 1 OVERVIEW: THE IMPACT OF C
Page 28 and 29: Overview Egerton, the Earl of Bridg
Page 30 and 31: Overview important to remember. Dar
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Page 41 and 42: 16 CHARLES DARWIN AND THE ORIGIN OF
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CHAPTER 4 THE RECEPTION OF DARWIN
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The Reception of Darwin’s Theorie
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BIOGRAPHIES: PERSONALITIES IMPORTAN
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Biographies works on the subject. T
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Biographies Systematic Description
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Biographies declined rapidly after
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Biographies experiments on the poll
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Biographies Students of the Classes
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Biographies publishing company John
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Biographies were different: the han
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PEOPLE MENTIONED IN THE ORIGIN OF S
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People Mentioned in The Origin of S
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PRIMARY DOCUMENTS RELATING TO DARWI
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Primary Documents Relating to Darwi
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160 Glossary of Selected Terms up b
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162 Glossary of Selected Terms Muta
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164 Glossary of Selected Terms Spec
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ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Darwin’s M
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Annotated Bibliography ———. A
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Annotated Bibliography full (with a
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Annotated Bibliography Keynes, Rich
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Annotated Bibliography to support M
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Annotated Bibliography Lamarck, Jea
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Annotated Bibliography Dawkins, Ric
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Annotated Bibliography Shrewsbury S
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Annotated Bibliography Quammen, Dav
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Annotated Bibliography Islands and
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INDEX Academie des sciences, France
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Index The Descent of Man, 4; delay
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Index The Origin of Species: argume
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About the Author KEITH A. FRANCIS i
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