The non-Darwinian revolution : reinterpreting a historical myth

Bibliographic Information

The non-Darwinian revolution : reinterpreting a historical myth

Peter J. Bowler

(Johns Hopkins paperbacks)

Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992

  • : pbk

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Note

Bibliography: p. 205-231

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Concise and clearly written, "The Non-Darwinian Revolution" sets forth a convincing argument for a reappraisal of Darwin's importance not only for the history of science but for the history of ideas as well. Bowler finds no fault with Darwin's theory, only with the mistaken notion of its revolutionary effect on nineteenth-century thought. Examining the work of such figures as Owen, Spencer, Kelvin, Huxley, Haeckel, and Freud, Bowler discovers a near-universal tendency to accept evolutionism while rejecting Darwin's central premise: natural selection. Instead, leading scientists and thinkers stubbornly clung to the Lamarckian theory of evolution as guided, purposeful development until they were forced by the twentieth century's "rediscovery" of Mendelian law to concede otherwise.

Table of Contents

List of Figures Preface Chapter 1. The Myth of the Darwinan Revolution Chapter 2. Darwin's Originality Chapter 3. The Impact of the Origin Chapter 4. Evolutionism Triumphant Chapter 5. From Darwin to Modern Darwinism Chapter 6. Human Evolution Chapter 7. Social Darwinism Chapter 8. A Cultural Revolution? Chapter 9. Toward a New Historiography of Evolutionism Refences Index

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Details

  • NCID
    BA18540012
  • ISBN
    • 0801843677
  • LCCN
    88009738
  • Country Code
    us
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    Baltimore
  • Pages/Volumes
    x, 238 p.
  • Size
    24 cm
  • Classification
  • Subject Headings
  • Parent Bibliography ID
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