The Modern Scholar

Darwin, Darwinism, and the Modern World

The history of Western civilization can be divided neatly into pre-Darwinian and post-Darwinian periods. Darwin's 1859 treatise, On the Origin of Species, was not the first work to propose that organisms had descended from other, earlier organisms, and the mechanism of evolution it proposed remained controversial for years.

Nevertheless, no biologist after 1859 could ignore Darwin's theories, and few areas of thought and culture remained immune to their influence. Darwinism was attacked, defended, debated, modified, ridiculed, championed, interpreted, and used not only by biologists but also by philosophers, priests, sociologists, warmongers, cartoonists, robber-barons, psychologists, novelists, and politicians of arious stripes.

This course will introduce the major themes of Darwin's works and explore their diverse, often contradictory impacts on science and society from 1859 to the present.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2004 Chandak Sengoopta (P)2004 Recorded Books

Not about Darwinian science

I was hoping for an account of Darwinian science, beginning with Darwin and continuing on to the present. Instead, it's more of a work of sociology, discussing ideological reactions to Darwin in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The lecturer is very good, and if you're seeking this kind of sociological analysis, then you're good to go. If you're seeking a survey of the science, look elsewhere.

One thing I found offensive is that the lecturer repeatedly talks about "higher" and "lower" animals with, of course, humans at the top of this bogus hierarchy. There are no higher and lower animals. There is only life.