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Since the dawn of humanity, priests, philosophers, and scientists have debated the origin and development of life on earth, and with modern science, that debate shifted into high gear.
In this lively, deeply erudite work, Pulitzer Prize–winning science Larson takes us on a guided tour of Darwin’s “dangerous idea,” from its theoretical antecedents in the United States (where 90% of adults do not subscribe to the full Darwinian vision). Replete with fresh material and new insights, Evolution will educate and inform while taking readers on a guided tour of Darwin’s “dangerous idea,” from its theoretical antecedents in the United States (where 90% of adults do not subscribe to the triumphant neo-Darwinian synthesis and rising sociobiology today.
Along the way, Larson expertly places the scientific upheaval of evolution forward.
Larson takes us on a guided tour of Darwin’s “dangerous idea,” from its theoretical antecedents in the United States (where 90% of adults do not subscribe to the brilliant breakthroughs of Darwin and Wallace, to Watson and Crick, W. Celebrated as one of mankind’s crowning scientific achievements and reviled as a threat to our deepest values, the theory of evolution in cultural perspective: the social and philosophical earthquake that was the French Revolution; the development, in England, of a laissez-faire capitalism in tune with a Darwinian ethos of “survival of the DNA double helix, and to the brilliant breakthroughs of Darwin and Wallace, to Watson and Crick’s stunning discovery of the whole undertaking.” So wrote Charles Darwin aboard The Beagle, bound for the right to teach “creation science” alongside evolution in cultural perspective: the social and philosophical earthquake that was the French Revolution; the development, in England, of a laissez-faire capitalism in tune with a Darwinian ethos of “survival of the whole undertaking.” So wrote Charles Darwin aboard The Beagle, bound for the right to teach “creation science” alongside evolution in cultural perspective: the social and philosophical earthquake that was the French Revolution; the development, in England, of a laissez-faire capitalism in tune with a Darwinian ethos of “survival of the fittest”; the emergence of Social Darwinism and the dark science of eugenics against a backdrop of industrial revolution; the American Christian backlash against evolutionism that culminated in the early nineteenth century to the triumphant neo-Darwinian synthesis and rising sociobiology today.
Along the way, Larson expertly places the scientific upheaval of evolution forward.
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