Progress in Life’s History: Linking Darwinism and Palaeontology in Britain, 1860-1914

TY - JOUR

T1 - Progress in Life’s History

T2 - Linking Darwinism and Palaeontology in Britain, 1860-1914

AU - Manias, Chris

PY - 2017/8/2

Y1 - 2017/8/2

N2 - This paper examines the tension between Darwinian evolution and palaeontological research in Britain in the 1860-1914 period, looking at how three key promoters of Darwinian thinking – Thomas Henry Huxley, Edwin Ray Lankester and Alfred Russell Wallace – integrated palaeontological ideas and narratives of life’s history into their public presentations of evolutionary theory. It shows how engagement with palaeontological science was an important part of the promotion of evolutionary ideas in Britain, which often bolstered notions that evolution depended upon progress and development along a wider plan. While often critical of some of the non-Darwinian concepts of evolution professed by many contemporary palaeontologists, and frequently citing the ‘imperfection’ of the fossil record itself, Darwinian thinkers nevertheless engaged with palaeontology to develop evolutionary narratives informed by notions of improvement and progress within the natural world.

AB - This paper examines the tension between Darwinian evolution and palaeontological research in Britain in the 1860-1914 period, looking at how three key promoters of Darwinian thinking – Thomas Henry Huxley, Edwin Ray Lankester and Alfred Russell Wallace – integrated palaeontological ideas and narratives of life’s history into their public presentations of evolutionary theory. It shows how engagement with palaeontological science was an important part of the promotion of evolutionary ideas in Britain, which often bolstered notions that evolution depended upon progress and development along a wider plan. While often critical of some of the non-Darwinian concepts of evolution professed by many contemporary palaeontologists, and frequently citing the ‘imperfection’ of the fossil record itself, Darwinian thinkers nevertheless engaged with palaeontology to develop evolutionary narratives informed by notions of improvement and progress within the natural world.

U2 - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2017.07.002

DO - 10.1016/j.shpsc.2017.07.002

M3 - Article

SN - 1369-8486

JO - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

JF - Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences

ER -