The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades around 1900 (Paperback)

by Peter J. Bowler (Author) "IN 1894 the British association for the Advancement of Science met in Oxford..." (more)
Key Phrases: nonadaptive trends, evidence for orthogenesis, toad experiments, Samuel Butler, William Bateson, Herbert Spencer (more...)

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"Establishes the context and the necessity for reconciliation between Darwinism and the other biological subdisciplines that occurred in the years following the 1920s." -- American Scientist

Product Description
In this pioneering study of the first major challenges to Darwinism, Bowler examines the completing theories of evolution, identifies their intellectual origins, and describes the process by which the modern concept of evolution emerged.

Product Details

• Paperback: 312 pages
• Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press (February 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 080184391X
• ISBN-13: 978-0801843914
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #652,655 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Behind the triumph of Darwin's theory, April 10, 2005

By	John C. Landon "nemonemini" (New York City) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

We tend to think of the monolithic triumph of Darwinism in the wake of the publication of _Origin_, but as Bowler shows the theory of Darwin was under assault by the end of the nineteenth century, before the rise of the neo-Darwinian synthesis. In fact, the acceptance of the fact of evolution--and the rapid conversion of most scientists--was not matched by a similar assent to natural selection. Further, the absence of a genetic argument and the treatment of inheritance in terms of blending was a major problem. By the time of the sixth edition Darwin's claims bordered on incoherence, as a strain of Lamarckianism reentered Darwin's thinking. This was only the beginning, and by the beginning of the twentieth century claims for theistic evolution, orthogenesis, Lamarckianism flourished even as the rediscovery of Mendel produced genetics and the mutation theory. It would be some time before the real triumph of Darwinism occurred, by the middle of the twentieth century, and yet one wonders if a similar cycle must greet the harderning of the paradigm that we now see.