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Darwin's Century: Evolution and the Men Who Discovered It

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This is the story of the development and refinement of evolutionary thought in the Nineteenth Century. The author allows a little slop into the end of the Eighteenth Century with such as Hutton and Buffon, and a bit into the Twentieth with Alfred Russell Wallace's last years, but basically this is the story of how the medieval view of the Great Chain of Being coming into sudden being along with the earth 6000-odd years ago evolved into an altogether grander but not-remotely-Biblical view of time, geology, life, and change.

Charles Darwin is, of course, the centerpiece of such a discussion, but by no means crowds out consideration of other thinkers and workers. In terms of space, Darwin does not take up terribly much of the book, but many of the ideas and discoveries made before him are highlighted because of the use he is to make of them, and the loss of Mendel's work is seen as ironic because it was not there when Darwin needed it. It seems to be Eiseley's position that Darwin was not making a leap that others could not make, or had not made, but that, rather, he was positioned to carry the new paradigm of natural selection through an opposition that could not combat his thorough preparation and his dedicated cadre of younger naturalists. The time was ripe, and Darwin struck. It is ironic that he was, in later editions of his book, forced to revert to rather Lamarkian explanations of organic change because of the physicists. They just wouldn't give him an Earth old enough to allow his leisurely form of natural selection by the pruning of occasional random variations to create, eventually, the great variety of life.

After Darwin was pruned the story goes on, of course, and Eiseley mentions the work of the Germans in cytology and heredity, the rediscovery of Mendel, and Wallace's speculations about the brain. This book was written in 1958, but Loren Eiseley anticipates, to a certain extent, the evolutionary psychology that is now explaining so much about the human mind. And he weighs in on the side of free will: finally, we must become less impressed with our technology and begin to grapple with the questions that should interest a creature that can look at itself-the basic questions of morality and the meaning of life. It is fascinating to know what we are, but we must ask what we can become.

This book is well worth reading (I've read it twice) for the compelling story and the fine prose style. Eiseley was a naturalist and paleontologist as well as an essayist of great evocative power. Here he proves himself a fine historian as well: he seems to have read everything that impinges on the story he is telling, and given us a clear view of a fascinating period in science.

Anthropologist Loren Eiseley is best known for his poetic essays on evolution, biology, and human nature.

_Darwin's Century_ may be a leap for fans of this work. It's a scholarly work, written while Eiseley was wearing his Professor hat instead of his Philosopher cap. It's a comprehensive (but very readable) look at the intellectual climate in which Charles Darwin was educated and scentific traditions of the time.

Like any good history of science, _Darwin's Century_ clears away a lot of the mythological gleam surrounding Darwin's great realization. It shows us that, despite the genuine controversy the publication of the theory engendered, that _evolution evolved_. The seeds of the idea were all around.

Indeed, much of the ideological "flavor" we associate with evolution arises not from the theory itself, but were inherited from these ur-notions, such as the Great Chain of Being and Malthus's writings.

Put this one on your list if you enjoy the work of writers like Stephen Jay Gould and Freeman Dyson.

Loren Eiseley's DARWIN'S CENTURY is an interesting survey of the men whose scientific investigations led to advances in studies in biology and, interestingly enough, physics. Eiseley presents a readable account of the complex background to Darwin's work, and Eiseley examines the Darwin's contemporaries and those benefitted from his work as well as those who enhanced it.

Eiseley presents Darwin's work with the 19th century intellectual background. The book makes clear that Darwin's work leading to the his theory of evolution was not an isolated venture devoid of other scientific work. One must note that there signficances studies in geology, and with the rapid industrialization in Europe and the United States, the mining industries led not only to the extraction of natural resources but the discovery of the remains of extinct species.

Charles Darwin was not the only one who noticed the possibilities extinct species. However, he was one of the first to carefully investigate why species survived. His work led to the realization that within surviving species there were noticable differences in color, habits, etc. This led to Darwin's ORIGINS OF THE SPECIES which was published in 1859. Darwin may have had this published book "prematurely" in hopes of prempting others who were doing similiar work.

Eiseley's explanation of Gregor Mendal's (1822-1884)pioneer work in genetics is a clear explation of both Mendal's work and the historical importance of genetics which helped the Darwinists in that it gave them a theorhetically mechanism for changes in species. The advances in the study of genetics in recent history indicates just how important Mendal's work was.

Eiseley also gives a readable explation of some of the developments in atomic physics. His explation of the importance of the Curries-Laborde experiments in 1903 which proved that radium maintains its temperatures above the surroundings was so important to studies in astronomy and geology. Such work help astronomers develop radio telescopes and a means of examining "space debris." Developments in atomic physics were important in examining the astronomical age of the sun which undermined Kelvin's conception of this star. Geologists benefitted from atomic physics which helped with the invention of the atomic clock which enabled geologists to push the age of the earth back to millions and eventually billions of years. Both genetics atomic physics gave the evolutionists the means of change and the time they needed to explain evolution.

DARWIN'S CENTURY is an important book in explaining biological theories and evolution. Before one engages in the childish debates about intelligent design, this book would assist anyone to have a calm, rational view of Darwin and others whose work was so important and certainly above the childish debate of what some try to pass as science. Rather than popularize one side or the other in intelligent design debate, Eiseley's book would give a dispassionate, readable view of the actual science involved.

Newton said, "If I have seen so far, it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants." The same could be said for Charles Darwin, as Eisley shows in _Darwin's Century_.

It is a fascinating read, to be sure. I had always assumed that Dawin's _Origin of Species_ and _Decent of Man_ were discoveries made by a brilliant flash of intuition and genius. Eisley clarifies this misconception, demonstrating the ideas and theories that influenced Darwin - from Buffon and Lamarck to Malthus and Linneaus were critical in the development of his theory. Of course, all of these naturalists were "close" to evolution, but it was Darwin who managed to connect the dots, and it was Darwin's genius that made sense of it all. However, the theories of natural selection, species variation and adaptation did not occur in an academic vacuum. Eisely does a great job of showing this.

The only criticism I have is that it is written more for the "scholarly set" - maybe as a supplementary text for a college class rather than for the general public. This is not a weakness, but certainly something the lay reader should be aware of going into this remarkable book.

This is a very readable account of a topic that can be daunting at times, especially for those without much background in the natural or physical sciences. Eiseley was a superb writer and he adds a lot of life and zest to the history of evolutionary theory. One becomes fascinated by the men who were at the forefront of "discovering" evolution (of whom Charles Darwin was only one), as well as the events that led to evolution's eventual widespread acceptance.

This book is not explicitly about Darwin, rather it is about the science that shaped Darwin's ideas and made it possible for him to develop the theory of evolution. The book starts with the idea of time and how the science of the late 18th and early 19th centuries provided a counterpoint to the idea that the earth was only about 6000 years old. The book shows how the development of geology made it possible to think of an earth that was older than many millions of years, making evolution possible. The book then discuses those scientists who preceded Darwin and came very close to developing the idea of natural selection. Darwin does not even enter the book until about its mid point and then it is assumed that the reader is very familiar with him and how he came to write his famous books. Only 15 pages are actually allotted to the voyage of the Beagle and only part of another chapter is devoted to Darwin's writings. Following this are chapters about those who supported Darwin and those who opposed his ideas.

I found the book interesting and it corrected some misconceptions that I had about Darwin and evolution. For instance, I always believed that Alfred Russel Wallace was unknown to Darwin before he received his paper on evolution and that Wallace's ideas were not based on very many personal observations. The book shows that I was wrong on both counts. Wallace, like Darwin, was a naturalist who traveled widely and made many personal observations. Furthermore, he exchanged letters with Darwin before he wrote his paper and thus Darwin should not have been surprised when Wallace's paper arrived. I also did not realize that as the 19th century was ending sufficient objections were raised to have put Darwin's theories in serious jeopardy. The book also shows how the new science of atomic physics and the rediscovery of Mendel's ideas of inheritance answered these questions.

While I liked some aspects of the book on the whole I was disappointed for several reasons, namely:
1) The book provides almost no information regarding Darwin's life and his theories.
2) The book presupposes that the reader is very familiar with Darwin, his life and his theories.
3) The style of writing is more 19th century than 20th century. Most sentences contain subordinate clauses and several ideas. To some degree I felt as if I were reading a 300-page SAT essay, which was chosen to be as complex and confusing as possible. This coupled with the assumption that I knew more about Darwin than I did, made this a tough read.

Because of the aforementioned problems, from my perspective this was only at best a 3 star book, but for someone with more knowledge of Darwin and evolution it would be a 4 or 5 star book. For them it does provide a lot of information on the science and scientists who made it possible for Darwin to develop his ideas. For this reason, and because I do not think that it is fair to criticize a book because of my shortcomings, I am giving the book 4-stars, with the proviso that this would only be so for a reader with sufficient background knowledge of Darwin and the theory of evolution to enable them to get more from the book than I did.

"Only James Hutton brooding over a little Scottish brook that carried sediment down to the sea felt the weight of the solid continent slide uneasily beneath his feet and cities and empires flow away as insubstantially as a summer cloud." It's tough to read this line and not have shivers go down your spine. This book approaches poetry in places. A classic that should remain in courses on history as well as evolution and geology. Darwin was a man of his times, and to understand him, one must understand his times. This book is an excellent leg up on that.