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Darwinian Myths: The Legends and Misuses of a Theory

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This is a superb snapshot of the legend-creation process that has always braided with the legacy of Darwinism. Ideology has been described as a lack of information, and the absence of historical knowledge in depth of the development of Darwinism by the general public has left the field to sound bite summaries, the fodder of legend, myth, and outright falsehood. Both sides of the debate have shown their colours here, although the genesis of Social Darwinism has been the worst of the whole process. The book covers a range of topics from the hollywoodization of the Huxley-Wilberforce debate, to the strange tale of Darwin's death bed confession, from the Spanish Civil War to the questions of eugenics, and finally the fearful shadow of fascism at the end of the whole business. The author starts with a fact little grasped, that Darwinism began with many of the tactics in their early forms of the modern publicity machine. The clear objections of many critics, in the confusion of the fact of evolution versus the theory of the mechanism, counted little as the promotion of the Darwin camp ensured the success of Darwin's theory irregardless of its deeper scientific merits as it tagged along with the timely spread of evolutionary thinking in general.

Although there is something to be said for a catcy title, Myths and Misuses of Darwinism soon vanishes from the reader's mind. As the book is unacceptably skant in both content and innovation, the reader is unable to conjure the meaning of the book. Thus, the reader is forced to delve deep into the phantom pages in order to ascertain the author's argument. At times, however, by way of some supernatural sense, the author is able to express his views to the reader often without actually demonstrating them in the text. Although this book is unable to make a lasting impression, it offers a rare oppurtunity for the reader particpate a he must envision what the author will conclude about Myths and Misuses in Darwinism