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Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory (Modern Library Chronicles)
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Review
"Infectious good reading. The prose is limpid, the chapters are luminous."—James Moore, co-author of Darwin “The history of evolutionary science from the 18th-century to the present is a history of controversies and seemingly incompatible views. It takes an author like Ed Larson to provide an account of this crucial history. . . .The reader will be rewarded by an intellectual delight.”—Ernst Mayr"Larson masterfully takes us from the 18th century French enlightenment to the 21st century evolution wars. From Buffon and Cuvier, through Darwin and Wallace, to Dawkins, Gould, and Wilson, he provides a scholarly, readable history of the ups and downs of the theory of evolution. Larson shows us how firmly this theory is established, as firmly as Einstein's theory of relativity."—Duncan M. Porter, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project"Larson has written a brilliant introduction to the history of evolution, equally sensitive to scientific, religious, and social factors. It is, hands down, the most readable and reliable account available."—Ronald L. Numbers, Hilldale and William Coleman Professor of the History of Science and Medicine. Department of Medical History and Bioethics, University of Wisconsin "Ed Larson is both a historian and a writer who knows how to bring his subject alive. In Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory he combines the latest historical scholarship with an understanding of recent issues in science, religion and social debate. This powerful book will help everyone understand the foundations of modern evolutionary ideas and the origins of the latest controversies." —Peter J. Bowler, Queens University Belfast"An indispensable guide to the sometimes weird, but always wonderful, world of Evolution. Every species inhabiting this contested territory is here: Darwinian materialists, Lamarckian progressivists, hopeful-monster mutationists, theistic evolutionists, neo-vitalists, six-day creationists, mathematical geneticists, intelligent designers, molecular reductionists and on and on. Yet this is no monochrome chronicle of disengaged scientific ideas. It is a rich and compelling narrative portrayed in glorious technicolour, as grand and sweeping in scope as the theory of evolution itself. In the struggle for shelf-life among publications on evolution, Edward Larson?s book is superbly fitted for long-term survival."—David N. Livingstone, author of Darwin's Forgotten Defenders: The Encounter Between Evangelical Theology and Evolutionary Thought“Larson’s acclaimed gifts as a writer who can make the history of science exciting to a wide audience are visible again. The story, which takes seriously the cultural meanings of new science, has many twists and turns and is told with humor and vivacity.”—JOHN HEDLEY BROOKE, Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion, University of Oxford
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About the Author
EDWARD J. LARSON is Russell Professor of History and Talmadge Professor of Law at the University of Georgia. He is the recipient of multiple awards for teaching and writing, including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize in History for his book, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America’s Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion. His most recent book is Evolution’s Workshop: God and Science on the Galapagos Islands. His articles have appeared in dozens of journals including The Atlantic Monthly, Nature, The Nation, and Scientific American.
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Product details
Series: Modern Library Chronicles (Book 17)
Paperback: 368 pages
Publisher: Modern Library; Reprint edition (August 8, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0812968492
ISBN-13: 978-0812968491
Product Dimensions:
5.2 x 0.8 x 8 inches
Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review:
4.3 out of 5 stars
35 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#453,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
This is an intellectual history of thought on evolution in Europe and the United States. It is logically sequenced and accessible to the non-biologist reader. I plan to read it again sometime because I personally have trouble wrapping my mind around the many variations of evolutionary thought; I feel I will gain from the re-read by picking up new things in it and by making connections so far unmade. I thoroughly believe in evolution and consider it an obligation to defend evolution as science as opposed to superstition or fake science-- but I would like to be able to defend it in depth and with greater certainty in my assertions. This book has helped.
This book was very well done. The author has a nice style that was clear and engaging. It put the history of the evolutionary theory in perspective over time and how it has changed from the beginning. It wasn't overly technical but the author had enough knowledge to explain how technology and society has influenced the theory. I learned some things I didn't know previously about people and ideas relative to evolution. The section about eugenics gave me a little better understanding of the Nazi regime. I wished there was a little more about the current genetic research but it is changing so fast that it is hard to keep up with and incorporate in a book format.
Book covers the theory of Evolution from pre Darwin through and up to today including an in-depth discussion of human and social evolution. I find this an excellent overall look at the theory and all of its ramifications and interpretations throughout history.
Mr. Larson has written a fine overview of the history of evolution. The book does not dwell endlessly on every skirmish between different scientists or the backlash from religious groups. If Mr. Larson had taken that approach, the size of "Evolution" would have made "War & Peace" look like a flimsy bookmark. Instead, the author effectively shows how and why Darwin's theory became and continues to be the backbone of all biological research. It is absolutely amazing that we are into the 21st century and, still, a large portion of the populace doesn't understand or accept evolution. This book is a great, entertaining start for people who believe knowledge is power and have the courage to take their brains out for a little fresh air.If you are looking for a more detailed account of some of the topics skimmed over in this work, I'd humbly suggest Mr. Larson's "Summer for the Gods" about the Scopes Monkey Trial; "Monkey Girl" by Edward Humes which is about ignoramuses trying to sneak creationsim into Dover, Pennsylvania's high school science curricula; and "War Against the Weak" by Edwin Black that documents America's frightening, misguided flirtation with eugenics. All three of them are also excellent reads.
The book is a good analysis of the development of the theory of evolution itself, showing the reasonableness of ideas that didn't pan out and are no longer discussed. There is also much discussion of the personal views, including religious ones, of many of the scientists involved. A nice philosophy of science text in this way. The author is a little smug in the beginning, but this fades away and is easy to just ignore in any case.
I thought this book was interesting, but a bit slow. It worked very well for class, though, and it came in great condition.
I have remarked elsewhere (somewhat controversially) that relatively few people, even biological scientists, really understand the Principle of Evolution. You will not become one of those few by reading this book. But what you will learn will be, to use the author's words, "remarkable." I have been a biologist for 30 years now and I learned something new from each page, not about biology but history, just as the subtitle says.The author, Edward Larson is a professor in the School of Law at Pepperdine University. He has a Ph. D. in History from the University of Wisconsin and a J.D. from Harvard. He has several other works on the interaction between science and religion and works on various aspects of the legal history of the United States. His authority on this subject is well established.The book starts in France, in the midst of the enlightenment, with the story of the man who managed to squash any real discussion of evolution throughout his lifetime and for 30 years after, Georges Couvier, the granddaddy of modern comparative anatomy. He argued against any form of gradual speciation on the grounds that the organ systems of each species were too essentially integrated to allow for any variation. Variation would lead to death, which happens to be right most of the time, and the essence of Couvier's argument remains at the heart of the objections of the advocates of Intelligent Design yet today. Couvier spent his career making sure that Lamarck's "ascending escalator" of species never got off the ground and the story of these two men and the changing ideas of the early 19th century is worth the price of the book.But the origins of evolution are more to be found in fossils than finches, so the book turns to the work of Charles Lyell and the other rock choppers of England who founded simultaneously the sciences of geology and paleontology. It was Lyell's book, "Principles of Geology" that Darwin read and reread on that five year journey of the Beagle. It was Lyell that allowed Darwin to see back through the time available and necessary for evolution. Lyell's work was the bedrock on which Darwin eventually constructed his theory using the bricks and mortar supplied by Thomas Malthus. Darwin took his time with this construction and it's unveiling and this makes for a good story.Professor Larson then describes the fanatical proselytizing for the ideas of evolution by "Darwin's Bulldog", Thomas Huxley, and Darwin's cousin, Francis Galton, the founder of Social Darwinism. One of the weakest points of the book is the author's failure to explore adequately the fact that the fervor of these men was every bit the equivalent of that of those similarly well-meaning folk who opposed the teaching of evolution insisting on Heavenly mechanisms 60 years later. The acceptance of both God and science by Darwin's American ally, Asa Gray, likewise remains unexplored. Huxley and Galton embraced the science so they might free themselves from religion, but that embrace is then how science becomes a religion, as it has for many people. That religion of science can lead to the same irrationality sometimes found in other religions. Social Darwinism has killed far more people than the Crusades.The book also struggles in places as it progresses through the 20th century, but then the science does start to get trickier here. The treatment of Mendel (his work was not discovered until the 20th century so it is dealt with here) is appropriately generous and that of Jay Gould appropriately harsh. The appeal here is the description of the scientists who followed Darwin to found modern genetics (lot of founding going on around this, hmmm), their lives and their interactions with each other which slowly lead to the synthesis of genetics and natural selection that we now call evolution.The book regains its stride in its discussion of the rejection of evolution by many in the United States in the 20th century and of the Scopes Monkey Trial. But it should, Professor Larson has written another book on just that subject, "Summer for the Gods", the book that evidently lead him down this historical path. The movie "Inherit the Wind" is a lie and Professor Larson says so. But while the treatment of the deniers of evolution is fair, accurate and measured, the undertone of scorn is unmistakable.For those who do want to know the science before they read this book, the starting point is easy - Darwin. Origin of the Species is easily the best non-fiction book of the 19th century and the corner stone of modern biology. For those who really want to try to understand the science, I recommend Douglas Futuyma's text, "Evolution." For those who just want to know the "remarkable history of a scientific theory" this is your place.
A good book, valuable and interesting. Mostly for beginners in the field of history of science.
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