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Edward J. Larson - Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory

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I often said before starting, that I had no doubt I should frequently repent of the whole undertaking.So wrote Charles Darwin aboardThe 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 Prizewinning science historian Edward J. Larson takes us on a guided tour of Darwins dangerous idea, from its theoretical antecedents in the early nineteenth century to the brilliant breakthroughs of Darwin and Wallace, to Watson and Cricks 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 todays 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 mankinds 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,Evolutionwill educate and inform while taking readers on a fascinating journey of discovery.
From the Hardcover edition.

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C ONTENTS T O ERNST MAYR IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS 100 TH B IRTHDAY J - photo 1

C ONTENTS T O ERNST MAYR IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS 100 TH B IRTHDAY J - photo 2

C ONTENTS


T O

ERNST MAYR

IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS

100 TH B IRTHDAY

J ULY 5, 2004

A REMARKABLE LIFE IN SERVICE OF SCIENCE

L IST OF I LLUSTRATIONS

Reprinted in Alfred Russel Wallace, The World of Life, 1911. By permission of University of Georgia Libraries (UGA).

From Georges Cuvier, Essay on the Theory of the Earth, 1827. By permission of UGA.

From Richard Owen, Paleontology, 1861. By permission of UGA.

Courtesy of G. P. Darwin on behalf of Darwin Heirlooms Trust. English Heritage Photo Library.

From Charles Darwin, Journal of Researches, 2nd ed., 1845. By permission of UGA.

Reprinted in Alfred Russel Wallace, My Life, 1906. By permission of UGA.

Reprinted in Leonard Huxley, Life and Letters of Thomas Henry Huxley, 1901. By permission of UGA.

From 1898 reprint of T. H. Huxley, Mans Place in Nature, 1863. By permission of UGA.

From Ernst Haeckel, The History of Creation, vol. 2, 1876. By permission of UGA.

From Fun, 1872. By permission of UGA.

From American Museum of Natural History, Hall of the Age of Man, 1921 guide leaflet series. By permission of UGA.

Courtesy of the Archives, California Institute of Technology.

From Thomas Hunt Morgan et al., Mechanics of Mendelian Heredity, 1915. By permission of UGA.

Reproduced in Karl Pearson, The Life, Letters and Labours of Francis Galton, vol. 1, 1914. By permission of UGA.

Reproduced from The Scopes Trial: A Photographic History. Courtesy of University of Tennessee Archives and Special Collections.

Courtesy of R. A. Fisher Memorial Trust. Photograph copyright: A. C. Barrington Brown.

From Sewall Wright, The Roles of Mutation, Inbreeding, Crossbreeding and Selection in Evolution, 1932. Courtesy of Genetics Society of America, all rights reserved.

Photograph by Nathan W. Cohen. Courtesy of Betty Cohen. Special Collections, California Academy of Sciences.

Courtesy of Henry M. Morris and John C. Whitcomb, Jr.

Photograph by Jim Harrison (2003). Courtesy of E. O. Wilson.

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GORDONS. WOOD on the American Revolution

P REFACE


Nineteenth-century evolutionists envisioned the earth as a grand laboratory or workshop of organic development: a shimmering sphere of life spinning in a vast universe. That image inspired a new way of understanding nature. It changed how we view ourselves, one another, and all living things. We became interconnected competitors rather than separate creations. We now live in the shadowor the illuminationof this modern biologic worldview.

The history of modern evolutionary science does not begin with Charles Darwin or even with biology. It begins with breakthroughs in late-eighteenth-century geology and paleontology. Indeed, when Darwin converted to an evolutionary view of biologic origins during the 1830s, he viewed himself as much as a geologist as a biologist. Fortunately, at the time, he did not have to categorize himself with either label, but instead could adopt the broader-brush title of naturalist, which encompassed the various fields of scientific study that he drew upon in formulating his theory of evolution by natural selection.

Darwins theory ripped through science and society, leaving little unchanged by its force. For nearly a century, scientists disagreed sharply among themselves over how evolution operates. Within the scientific community, a consensus answer to this question only began emerging during the 1930s, when a deeper understanding of genetics gave birth to the modern neo-Darwinian synthesis. Scientists still debate the details of evolutionary theory, however, and for many the devil lies in those details. Within the general population, disagreement continues even over whether species evolve, and most particularly over whether humans (or the essence of humanity) originated through purely natural processes from other forms of life. The stakes are enormous; few ideas more profoundly influence us than ideas about our origins. A starting point for any discussion of organic origins is an understanding of how the modern theory of evolution developed. It is a remarkable story of self-discovery that generated concepts affecting the very notion of what it means to be human. And it is far from finished. We will continue to learn more about organic originsand about ourselvesfor as long as we keep our minds open to new ideas in science.

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