The ideas and terminology of Darwinism are so pervasive these days that it seems impossible to avoid them, let alone imagine a world without them. But in this remarkable rethinking of scientific history, Peter J. Bowler does just that. He asks: What if Charles had not returned from the voyage of the Beagle and thus did not write On the Origin of Species? Would the absence of Darwin's book have led to a different sequence of events, in which biology developed along a track that did not precipitate a great debate about the impact of evolutionism? Would there have been anything equivalent to social Darwinism, and if so would the alternatives have been less pernicious and misappropriated? In Darwin Deleted, Bowler argues that no one else was in a position to duplicate Darwin's complete theory of evolution by natural selection. Evolutionary biology would almost certainly have emerged, but through alternative theories, which were frequently promoted by scientists, religious thinkers, and moralists who feared the implications of natural selection. Because non-Darwinian elements of evolutionism flourished for a time in the real world, it is possible to plausibly imagine how they might have developed. Bowler's unique approach enables him to clearly explain the non-Darwinian tradition and fully elucidate the ideas of other scientists, such as Richard Owen and Thomas Huxley, whose work has often been misunderstood because of their distinctive responses to Darwin. Darwin Deleted boldly offers a new vision of scientific history. It is one where the sequence of discovery and development could have led to an alternative understanding of the relationship between evolution, heredity, and the environment-and, most significantly, a less contentious relationship between science and religion, avoiding the polarized attitudes that shape the conversation today.
In 1845, Darwin wrote to Joseph Dalton Hooker predicting that he (Hooker) would soon be recognized as the first authority in Europe on "that grand subject, that almost key-stone of the laws of creation: Geographical Distribution." Darwin had already included a substantial section on the topic in his "Essay " of 1844 and would interact extensively with Hooker on the topic over the next decade and more. The Origin of Species itself contains two chapters on distribution, occupying sixty-four pages, or just over 13 percent of the text of the first edition. These two chapters would be modified on minor points in the subsequent editions, but would remain essentially intact, serving as one of the main lines of support for his theory. Since they include his discussion of the distribution of species on the Galápagos Islands, they represent a key link in the process by which the theory was developed and then presented to the public.
The last step in the ascent of the chain of being was from the apes (considered as the highest animals) to humans. In the eighteenth century the linear model of the chain was applied to this transition by depicting the non-European races as intermediate stages between the apes and the highest human type. Nineteenth-century anthropologists used various characters, especially skull size and shape, to give an appearance of scientific credibility to the supposed racial hierarchy. Early theories of evolution often treated the 'lower' races as relics of earlier stages in the origin of humanity. When evolution was represented as a branching tree, the concept of parallelism was invoked to imply that some branches of humanity had not advanced as rapidly up the scale as others. Europeans' sense of their own racial superiority was thus preserved in the post-Darwinian era by converting the chain of being into an abstract scale of mental development ascended by several forms but at different rates.
These volumes conclude a series initiated in 1974, marking almost fifty years of effort by a huge cohort of scholars. This review is thus a valedictory for the whole series as well as an account of what we have learned from the most recent volumes about Darwin's final years (1879–82). The project was begun by Frederick Burckhardt, who shared the editorial role for the early volumes with Sydney Smith and a rolling sequence of assistant editors and advisers who eventually comprised a significant fraction of the leading members of what used to be called the ‘Darwin industry’. Smith passed away in 1988 (volume 7 notes his legacy). Burkardt too left this world in 2007 – volume 16, part 1 includes an obituary, but his name has been retained and Cambridge University Press still ask that the series be cited as ‘Burkhardt et al. ’ Duncan Porter took over for volumes 8–15, again with a sequence of fellow editors and assistants, after which James Secord became head of the project through its final years. The dedications of successive volumes record the efforts of individual scholars who have aided the teams and the involvement of the many institutions and foundations that have leant moral and material support over the years. For those of us with Cambridge connections, the University Library will not seem the same without the presence of the team it supported.
Life and Earth Sciences - Ernst Mayr and William B. Provine, ed., The evolutionary synthesis: perspectives in the unification of biology. Cambridge, Mass, and London: Harvard University Press, 1980. Pp. xiv + 487. (no price stated.) - Volume 16 Issue 3
Susan Sheets-Pyenson. John William Dawson: Faith, Hope, and Science. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1996. Pp. 274. $44.95 Get access Sheets-Pyenson Susan. John William Dawson: Faith, Hope, and Science. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 1996. Pp. 274. $44.95. Peter J. Bowler Peter J. Bowler Queen's University, Belfast Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The American Historical Review, Volume 102, Issue 4, October 1997, Pages 1267–1268, https://doi.org/10.1086/ahr/102.4.1267-a Published: 01 October 1997
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