Erasmus Darwin (1731 1802) is remembered not only as the grandfather of Charles but as a pioneering scientist in his own right. A friend and correspondent of Josiah Wedgwood, Joseph Priestley and Matthew Boulton, he practised medicine in Lichfield, but also wrote prolifically on scientific subjects. He organised the translation of Linnaeus from Latin into English prose, coining many plant names in the process, and also wrote a version in verse, The Loves of Plants. The aim of his Zoonomia, published in two volumes (1794 6), is to 'reduce the facts belonging to animal life into classes, orders, genera, and species; and by comparing them with each other, to unravel the theory of diseases'. The first volume describes human physiology, especially importance of motion, both voluntary and involuntary; the second is a detailed description of the symptoms of, and the cures for, diseases, categorised according to his physiological classes.

The 1925 trial of John Scopes in tiny Dayton, Tennessee, remains a defining moment in American history. This "trial of the century"--a "media event" before the term was coined--addressed issues that still affect our society today, such as school curriculum control, the ongoing tensions between science and faith in public schools and the ramifications of teaching evolution and human origins. This book is the first encyclopedic treatment of the Scopes Trial. The text draws on media reports, family interviews and Scopes' personal correspondence, providing new information and perspectives. The book has previously unseen photos and information about Scopes and his relatives, as well as insights about the trial's instigators, participants, and issues, all organized in a concise and easily accessible format.

What set our ancestors off on a separate evolutionary trajectory was the ability to flex their reproductive and social strategies in response to changing environmental conditions. Exploring new cross-disciplinary research that links this capacity to critical changes in the organization of the primate brain, Social DNA presents a new synthesis of ideas on human social origins - challenging models that trace our beginnings to traits shaped by ancient hunting economies, or to genetic platforms shared with contemporary apes.

Hunter-gatherer research has played a historically central role in the development of anthropological and evolutionary theory. Today, research in this traditional and enduringly vital field blurs lines of distinction between archaeology and ethnology, and seeks instead to develop perspectives and theories broadly applicable to anthropology and its many sub disciplines. In the groundbreaking first edition of Hunter-Gatherers: Archaeological and Evolutionary Theory (1991), Robert Bettinger presented an integrative perspective on hunter-gatherer research and advanced a theoretical approach compatible with both traditional anthropological and contemporary evolutionary theories. Hunter-Gatherers remains a well-respected and much-cited text, now over 20 years since initial publication. Yet, as in other vibrant fields of study, the last two decades have seen important empirical and theoretical advances. In this second edition of Hunter-Gatherers, co-authors Robert Bettinger, Raven Garvey, and Shannon Tushingham offer a revised and expanded version of the classic text, which includes a succinct and provocative critical synthesis of hunter-gatherer and evolutionary theory, from the Enlightenment to the present. New and expanded sections relate and react to recent developments-some of them the authors' own-particularly in the realms of optimal foraging and cultural transmission theories. An exceptionally informative and ambitious volume on cultural evolutionary theory, Hunter-Gatherers, second edition, is an essential addition to the libraries of anthropologists, archaeologists, and human ecologists alike.

This new edition captures the advances made in the field of evolutionary systems biology since the publication of the first edition. The first edition focused on laying the foundations of evolutionary systems biology as an interdisciplinary field, where a way of thinking and asking questions is combined with a wide variety of tools, both experimental and theoretical/computational. Since publication of the first edition, evolutionary systems biology is now a well-known term describing this growing field. The new edition provides an overview of the current status and future developments of this interdisciplinary field. Chapters highlight several key achievements from the last decade and outline exciting new developments, including an understanding of the interplay between complexity and predictability in evolutionary systems, new viewpoints and methods to study organisms in evolving populations at the level of the genome, gene regulatory network, and metabolic network, and better analysis and modeling techniques that will open new avenues of scientific inquiry.

Darwinian evolution is an imaginative problem that has been passed down to us unsolved. It is our most powerful explanation of humanity's place in nature, but it is also more cognitively demanding and less emotionally satisfying than any myth. From the publication of the Origin of Species in 1859, evolution has pushed our capacity for storytelling into overdrive, sparking fairy tales, adventure stories, political allegories, utopias, dystopias, social realist novels, and existential meditations. Though this influence on literature has been widely studied, it has not been explained psychologically. This book argues for the adaptive function of storytelling, integrates traditional humanist scholarship with current knowledge about the evolved and adapted human mind, and calls for literary scholars to reframe their interpretation of the first authors who responded to Darwin.

In 1884, American historian and philosopher John Fiske published The Destiny of Man, which discussed humanity's origin, destiny and place in the universe. A leading populariser of Darwin's theory in the United States and influenced by Herbert Spencer, Fiske considers views of human progress via evolutionary social change and the harmony between science and religion. The Destiny of Man is composed of sixteen chapters that anticipate philosophical questions from a typical non-scientific audience: the origins of atheism, the shifting hierarchal positions of humanity through history as proposed by Copernicus and later by Darwin, human brain size, and the 'dawning of consciousness' as a result of the growth and development of moral sentiment and inventiveness through natural selection. Interestingly, at the end of the book, Fiske discusses the historical power relationships of ruling governments and predicts that as humans evolve and become more civilised, war will eventually end.

The Scottish scholar James McCosh (1811 94) was a champion of the Free church, a successful and much-published philosophy professor at Belfast for 16 years, and an energetic and innovative President of Princeton University from 1868 to 1888. The Religious Aspect of Evolution was published in 1888, and this second edition from 1890 took account of A. R. Wallace's latest work, Darwinism (1889, also reissued in this series). McCosh, who already in Ireland had developed a 'theory of the universe conditioned by Christian revelation' was one of very few clergymen in America who defended evolutionary theory. He impressed upon his students that while there seemed to be great truth in Darwin's theory, the work of the coming age must be to separate that truth from the error springing up around it. This would enable scholars to follow and even embrace science while also retaining their faith in the Bible.

What conclusions do the facts of cosmic and organic evolution require or permit on the origin and destiny of the world and the individual? From 1881 to 1925 Thomas Whittaker, an Oxford-trained scientist turned philosopher, grappled with this question, which he tried to answer by metaphysical interpretation of the sciences. The majority of the essays in this volume first appeared in Mind, and a few in other journals, while three had not been previously published. Whittaker ranges widely over some of the most daring theories of the past, from the early centuries of the common era (including Apollonius of Tyana and Origen), to the middle ages (including John Scotus Erigena and Nicholas of Cusa), the renaissance (Giordano Bruno, Shakespeare) and the early modern period. Whittaker's own view is that hypothesis and imagination are legitimate aids in the search for truth in both science and philosophy in a new synthesis.

In 1863, the biologist and educator Thomas Henry Huxley published Evidence as to Man's Place in Nature, a compilation of his public lectures on Darwin's theory of evolution - specifically the controversial idea of the ape ancestry of humans. An energetic supporter of Darwin, Huxley's argues that in order to understand the universe, everyone must know their place in the natural world. The book is divided into three parts, each written with the aim of persuading lay audiences. The first covers earlier human beliefs about exotic animals, especially 'man-like' apes. In Part 2, Huxley suggests that every animal on Earth is related in that all go through developmental stages from an egg, whether the animal is 'a silkworm or a school-boy'. Part 3 involves a discussion of recently discovered Neanderthal bones and compares prehistoric craniums to modern human skulls.

This 1896 volume by Reverend J. A. Zahm, a professor of physics at the University of Notre Dame, considers the Catholic theological tradition as it relates to evolution. The author discusses Darwin's theory of evolution in detail, and traces the debate between theologians and scientists back to the early days of evolutionary theory. He compares late nineteenth-century evolutionary theory and the beliefs of the Catholic church, carefully evaluating the arguments and probing errors and misconceptions in theory and terminology. He also attempts to shed light on the little-understood relations between evolutionism and Christianity as a whole, and discusses whether a person of any Christian denomination can be an evolutionist. Zahm's thoughtful work is considered to be one of the most important volumes on evolution ever written by a Catholic.

In 1817 the Scottish mathematician and churchman Thomas Chalmers (1780 1847), who was later invited to write one of the Bridgewater Treatises (also reissued in this series) published this book, based on weekday sermons preached by him in Glasgow. His main aim is to refute the 'infidel' argument that because the earth and humanity are such insignificant parts of the universe, God - if he existed - would not care about them. However, he is also addressing the 'narrow and intolerant professors' who 'take an alarm' at the idea of philosophy rather than incorporating science into their Christian preaching. Chalmers writes from the viewpoint of an admirer of science and modern astronomy. However, he also argues that wonder at the magnificence of creation and even acknowledging it as God's work is not enough, and that a truly moral Christian life is essential for salvation.

St George Jackson Mivart was an eminent biologist, who was at first an advocate for natural selection and later a passionate opponent. In this beautifully illustrated 1871 text, Mivart raised objections to natural selection as a means for evolution. These included problems in explaining: 'incipient stages' of complex structures (e.g. the mammalian eye); the existence of similar structures of divergent origin; dramatic and rapid changes in form; the absence of transitional forms from the fossil record; and issues in geological distribution. Citing the giraffe's neck, the rattle of the snake and the whale's baleen, Mivart argued for the necessity of an innate power underlying all organic life. Mivart's book did not seriously undermine the concept of natural selection - Darwin and Huxley soon countered his 'formidable array' of arguments - but it helped move the debate forward. Sadly, it also led to a rift between Mivart and Darwin.

The author of this life of Erasmus Darwin, published in 1879, is given as Ernst Krause (1839 1903) a German biologist, but in fact more than half the book is a 'preliminary notice' by Charles Darwin, who explains in the preface that he has written it because of his access to family papers which add 'to the knowledge of Erasmus Darwin's character'. Krause wrote his original article in a German periodical because, in turn, he was intrigued by a reference made by Charles Darwin in the later editions of On the Origin of Species to his grandfather's anticipation in his Zoonomia (also reissued in this series) of Lamarckian theory: 'I thought immediately ... that this ancestor of his must certainly deserve considerable credit in connection with the history of the Darwinian theory.' The German text was translated by W. S. Dallas, who had previously collaborated with Darwin as both indexer and translator.

Essay on the Theory of the Earth was the last work of the scientific writer Robert Kerr who translated it from the introductory essay of George Cuvier's four-volume Recherches sur les ossements fossiles de quadrup des. Before its first publication in 1813, the essay was partly expanded by the geologist and natural historian Robert Jameson who wrote a preface and included extensive notes on mineralogy. Using geological evidence as its principal source of enquiry, Cuvier's essay attempts to address the questions of the origins of the human race, the formation of the earth, and the correlation between incomplete fossil remains and existing species of animals. Extremely influential in its own time, the essay remains a source of considerable insight into the early development of geological research, examining issues of continued significance today.

Joseph Le Conte was the first geologist, natural historian and botanist to be appointed to the University of California in 1869. He founded the successful palaeontology program at Berkeley and acquired important collections of fossils. He also lectured and wrote on evolution, of which he was the leading American proponent. This book, first published in 1888 but revised and expanded in the second edition reissued here, is his attempt to reconcile his evolutionist convictions with his religious faith. Such a synthesis, he felt, was impeded by dogmatism on both sides, and he makes a case for 'a combining, reconciling and rational view.' He considers three questions: What is evolution? Is it true? and What then?, intending to address 'the intelligent general reader' without being superficial or unscientific. Concepts such as 'neo-Darwinism', 'materialism', and 'design' make their appearance in this wide-ranging book, whose concerns remain surprisingly topical today.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 95) became known as 'Darwin's bulldog' because of his forceful and energetic support for Darwin's theory, most famously at the legendary British Association meeting in Oxford in 1860. In fact, Huxley had some reservations about aspects of the theory, especially the element of gradual, continuous progress, but in public he was unwavering in his allegiance, saying in a letter to Darwin 'As for your doctrines I am prepared to go to the Stake if requisite'. In his 1892 Essays upon Some Controverted Questions, Huxley collected some of his previously published writings, of which the titles alone give some flavour of his pugnacious stance in debate: 'The interpreters of Genesis and the interpreters of Nature'; 'Science and pseudo-science'; 'Agnosticism and Christianity'. The passion for scientific truth which underlies everything he writes is well demonstrated in this lively and still-relevant collection.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825 95) became known as 'Darwin's bulldog' because of his forceful and energetic support for Darwin's theory, especially at the notorious British Association meeting in Oxford in 1860. In fact, Huxley had some reservations about aspects of the theory, especially the element of gradual, continuous progress, but in public he was unwavering in his allegiance, saying in a letter to Darwin 'As for your doctrines I am prepared to go to the Stake if requisite'. In his 1870 essay collection Lay Sermons, Addresses, and Reviews, of which the title alone was designed to provoke controversy, he offers a variety of his writings, many of which were originally talks given to a range of audiences from learned societies to a working men's college, and including his own review of On the Origin of Species and a typically passionate response to two other reviews less favourable to Darwin.

Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation was published anonymously in 1844. Starting with the genesis of the solar system, it progresses systematically through such topics as the formation of the earth, the origins of marine life, the emergence of reptiles, birds and other life forms, and the evolution of human life. Drawing widely upon contemporary ideas from astronomy, biology, geology, linguistics, and anthropology, it seeks to establish the 'hypothesis of an organic creation by natural law'. Preceding Darwin's Origin of Species by fifteen years, Vestiges ignited a storm of controversy by pitting natural law and its role in what would soon come to be known as 'evolution' against the generally accepted Victorian belief that the universe was created by God. In 1884, it was revealed that the author was the British publisher Robert Chambers. This fifth edition of the work also contains its 1845 sequel, Explanations.

Darwiniana is a collection of critical essays on Charles Darwin's theory of evolution that were originally published in scientific journals by his friend and correspondent Asa Gray, Professor of Botany at Harvard. Gray was one of Darwin's strongest supporters in the American scientific community; he was also a Presbyterian and discussed questions of natural theology, design and teleology, including an earlier version of Chapter 3 of this book, with Darwin by letter over several years. Darwiniana (1876) was intended to provide a balanced assessment of Darwin's theory of evolution and to familiarise readers with the different aspects of Darwinism and its implications. The opening essays of the volume focus on the scientific and philosophical features of the theory, others analyse the reactions of Darwin's contemporaries and, most famously, argue for a reconciliation of religion and science in the light of Darwin's theory.

Even before Charles Darwin changed the world with his theory of natural selection, he was recognised as an eminent scientist and natural historian. Published in 1840, his Journal of Researches into the Geology and Natural History of the Various Countries Visited by H.M.S. Beagle reveals him as a writer of formidable intelligence and a keen observer of natural and human life. Darwin's journal encompasses every observable detail of the animals, birds and plants he encountered on the five-year voyage. It includes minute descriptions and even sketches of the movements and habits of hitherto unfamiliar species. Accompanying the entries are his own conclusions, analyses and classificatory notes that demonstrate his skill and talent as a naturalist. Darwin's entries on natural phenomena are interspersed with anecdotes of the indigenous peoples he encountered, transforming his journal from an impersonal scientific record to a book of true human interest.

For those engaged in research on Darwin or his circle, the Darwin Library is an invaluable resource. Originally donated by Darwin's son Francis to the library of the Botany School and now deposited in Cambridge University Library, it contains handwritten scribbles on book pages, note-filled scraps of paper pinned to back covers and personal inscriptions from mentors such as J. S. Henslow. First published in 1908, this catalogue to the Darwin Library collection, with an introduction by Francis Darwin, provides a gateway into Darwin's thought, research and intellectual context via his personal books and pamphlets. The book lists works in English and other languages, and contains bibliographic information, including the original publisher and date of publication, together with details of translations.

During his famous Beagle voyage, Darwin collected rocks, fossils and other geological specimens. No previous geologist had amassed such a detailed set of data. He identified raised beaches and remains of marine organisms high above the sea, understanding their significance as evidence of the uprising of landmasses. He also witnessed an earthquake and volcanic eruptions, concluding that both are related to movements of molten rock deep in the Earth. In this 1909 lecture, Sir Archibald Geikie, then President of the Royal Society, outlines Darwin's geological findings and explains how these underpinned his developing ideas. We learn of Darwin's theory of coral reef formation, and his fascination with the activities of earthworms. Finally the lecture considers the importance of Darwin's geological studies in formulating his theory of evolution by natural selection, leading to his masterpiece On the Origin of Species.

This book, the first of three-volumes detailing the life of Charles Darwin, published five years after his death, was edited by his son Francis, who was his father's collaborator in experiments in botany and who after his death took on the responsibility of overseeing the publication of his remaining manuscript works and letters. In the preface to the first volume, Francis Darwin explains his editorial principles: 'In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the wish to illustrate my father's personal character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a history of the man could not be written without following closely the career of the author.' Among the family history, anecdotes and reminiscences of scientific colleagues is a short autobiographical essay which Charles Darwin wrote for his children and grandchildren, rather than for publication. This account of Darwin the man has never been bettered.

This book, the second of three-volumes detailing the life of Charles Darwin, published five years after his death, was edited by his son Francis, who was his father's collaborator in experiments in botany and who after his death took on the responsibility of overseeing the publication of his remaining manuscript works and letters. In the preface to the first volume, Francis Darwin explains his editorial principles: 'In choosing letters for publication I have been largely guided by the wish to illustrate my father's personal character. But his life was so essentially one of work, that a history of the man could not be written without following closely the career of the author.' Among the family history, anecdotes and reminiscences of scientific colleagues is a short autobiographical essay which Charles Darwin wrote for his children and grandchildren, rather than for publication. This account of Darwin the man has never been bettered.