The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw [Paperback]

Michael Ruse (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226731693 | ISBN-13: 978-0226731698 | Publication Date: October 15, 1999 | Edition: 1

Originally published in 1979, The Darwinian Revolution was the first comprehensive and readable synthesis of the history of evolutionary thought. Though the years since have seen an enormous flowering of research on Darwin and other nineteenth-century scientists concerned with evolution, as well as the larger social and cultural responses to their work, The Darwinian Revolution remains remarkably current and stimulating.

For this edition Michael Ruse has written a new afterword that takes into account the research published since his book's first appearance.

"It is difficult to believe that yet another book on Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution could add anything new or contain any surprises. Ruse's book is an exception on all counts. Darwin scholars and the general reader alike can learn from it."—David L. Hull, Nature

"No other account of the Darwinian Revolution provides so detailed and sympathetic an account of the framework within which the scientific debates took place."—Peter J. Bowler, Canadian Journal of History

"A useful and highly readable synthesis. . .skillfully organized and written with verve, imagination, and welcome touches of humor."—John C. Greene, Science

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Ruse is professor of philosophy and zoology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. His most recent books are Monad to Man: The Concept of Progress in Evolutionary Biology and Mystery of Mysteries: Is Evolution a Social Construction?

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (October 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226731693
• ISBN-13: 978-0226731698
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #646,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating overview of Darwin in his own time, August 27, 2000

By 

James M. Cargal (Montgomery, AL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (Paperback)

Michael Ruse does a masterful job of showing the context of Darwin's work. Ruse, who is a professor of philosophy covers in great detail the culture of Darwin's time with a great deal of information on the biological theories of Darwin's day along with many of the major players and their various attitudes and especially their philosophies of science and in particular biology (and geology). This book is a must for anyone who wants a good historical view of Darwin. It is well written and clear but it is not a light read and it is not for the casual student.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Intellectual History, January 21, 2001

By 

R. Albin (Ann Arbor, Michigan United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book by a distinguished scholar who is also a fine writer. The Darwinian Revolution is the story of a scientific community producing and assimilating one of the most momentous sets of ideas in human history. Ruse deals thoughtfully and carefully with the scientific, philosophic, religous, and social background of British biology in the early 19th century, how this community became focused on the issue of evolution, how Darwin integrated himself into this community, and how this community dealt with the consequences of Darwin's work. Ruse does a fine job of describing the work of Darwin and his precursors, provides a nice and concise social history of this community, deals sensitively with the religous dimensions of these issues, and does a really commendable job of examining the state of philosophy of science in the early Victorian period. Written about 20 years ago, the conclusions of this book are still largely valid and Ruse provides a nice afterword to this edition to update his thinking on these questions. Ruse is a clear writer with an almost conversational style. This is really the book for readers interested in beginning an exploration of this interesting topic. This is also an excellent companion volume to Janet Browne's superb biography of Darwin, still incomplete, because it covers much of the same ground but with an emphasis on this community of British scientists rather than Browne's focus on Darwin himself. A particularly interesting feature of the book is Ruse's explanation of the reception of Darwin's ideas by his colleagues. Ruse points out that the academic biologists were largely able to go only part way with Darwin; they accepted evolution as a doctrine but were more resistant to the importance of natural selection. There were both internal scientific and external philosophical/social reasons for this relative resistance to Darwin's scheme. The full triumph of Darwinism has occurred in this century with the development of population genetics and more recently, large scale ecological experiments and studies.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Science in Darwin's day, February 17, 2010

By 

JOHN A. BROUSSARD (Kamuela, HI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Darwinian Revolution: Science Red in Tooth and Claw (Paperback)

Early 19th Century Britain was ripe for Darwin's "On the Origin of Species..." Geology was coming into it's own. Ancient fossils were being uncovered by the carload. Eager and well trained botanists and biologists were out in the field collecting and sending back to England treasure troves of specimens. Add to all that a community of dedicated scientists eager for new ideas, as well as a scholarly atmosphere where the concept of evolution was already in the air. Even the religious orientation of the time helped to spur Dariwn along. Ruse does a masterful job of describing this milieu and showing how it affected Darwin's endeavors over three decades. While the bibiliography is all that one could ask for, the inadequate index and the lack of a glossary will probably hamper anyone not familiar with that age and with Darwin himself. Otherwise, this is an excellent overview of a remarkable age and an even more remarkable person.