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    Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker
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    Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker
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    Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker
    Ebook682 pages8 hours

    Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker

    By A.N. Wilson

    2/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A radical reappraisal of Charles Darwin from the bestselling author of Victoria: A Life.

    With the publication of On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin—hailed as the man who "discovered evolution"—was propelled into the pantheon of great scientific thinkers, alongside Galileo, Copernicus, and Newton. Eminent writer A. N. Wilson challenges this long-held assumption. Contextualizing Darwin and his ideas, he offers a groundbreaking critical look at this revered figure in modern science.

    In this beautifully written, deeply erudite portrait, Wilson argues that Darwin was not an original scientific thinker, but a ruthless and determined self-promoter who did not credit the many great sages whose ideas he advanced in his book. Furthermore, Wilson contends that religion and Darwinism have much more in common than it would seem, for the acceptance of Darwin's theory involves a pretty significant leap of faith.

    Armed with an extraordinary breadth of knowledge, Wilson explores how Darwin and his theory were very much a product of their place and time. The "Survival of the Fittest" was really the Survival of Middle Class families like the Darwins—members of a relatively new economic strata who benefited from the rising Industrial Revolution at the expense of the working classes. Following Darwin’s theory, the wretched state of the poor was an outcome of nature, not the greed and neglect of the moneyed classes. In a paradigm-shifting conclusion, Wilson suggests that it remains to be seen, as this class dies out, whether the Darwinian idea will survive, or whether it, like other Victorian fads, will become a footnote in our intellectual history.

    Brilliant, daring, and ambitious, Charles Darwin explores this legendary man as never before, and challenges us to reconsider our understanding of both Darwin and modern science itself.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateDec 12, 2017
    ISBN9780062433510
    Unavailable
    Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker
    Author

    A.N. Wilson

    A. N. Wilson grew up in Staffordshire, England, and was educated at Rugby and New College, Oxford. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, he holds a prominent position in the world of literature and journalism. He is a prolific and award-winning biographer and celebrated novelist. He lives in North London.

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    • 4/5
      I didn't end up loving this, mostly because I think his logic is flawed and heavily dependent on giving this "maverick" pushback reading of Darwin. What's the opposite of a hagiography? This would be that, not quite a takedown but a very dispassionate look at Darwin as a self-promoter and builder on others' ideas, when it comes to "his" theory of evolution, without giving due credit. I'm going to reserve judgment on his argument until I get to the end, though I don't think it really holds water. But it was interesting in theory, anyway.Enormously well-researched, to the point where it kind of shows overmuch sometimes—Wilson gives context for his contexts—but I did enjoy the very extensive road map of the science of the day, which is an interest of mine (and why I'm reviewing it in the first place). I did find myself rereading passages often to get all of what Wilson's packing in there. Plus the book was published in the UK first, so there are a lot of Britishisms that make navigating it even more involved.This is also really making me want to read my copy of The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World, since it sings his praises a lot.