History, Humanity and Evolution Essays for John C. Greene [Hardcover]

Essays by prominent scholars in the history of evolutionary thought, with additional contributions by the dedicatee.This volume brings together thirteen original essays by prominent scholars in the field of evolutionary thought. It uses contemporary as diverse as medicine, literature, and natural history tableaux, and drawing on the resources of publishing history, feminist scholarship, and the histories of politics, sociology, and philosophy.This volume brings together thirteen original essays by prominent scholars in the field of evolutionary thought. It uses contemporary as diverse as medicine, literature, and natural history tableaux, and drawing on the resources of publishing history, feminist scholarship, and the histories of politics, sociology, and philosophy.This collection of thirteen essays by prominent scholars explores the history of evolutionary thought in all of its cultural richness over the past two hundred years. Evolutionary ideas have undergone fundamental changes and are now found to have diverse sources and universal scope. They are no longer beholden to biologists' understanding of their own past, and do not focus exclusively on Charles Darwin. This volume aims to address the problem of the human significance of evolution. The contributors draw on contemporary sources as diverse as medicine, literature and natural history tableaux, as well as the resources of publishing history, feminine scholarship, and the histories of politics, sociology, and philosophy. The essays offer new perspectives on familiar figures such as Erasmus, Charles Darwin, Lamarck, Chambers, Huxley, and Haeckel, but also on many lesser known participants in the evolutionary debates.Preface; Introductory conversation; 1. Erasmus Darwin: Doctor of Evolution? R. Porter; 2. Nature's powers: a reading of Lamarck's distinction between creation and production L. Jordanova; 3. Lamarckism and democracy: corporations, corruption, and comparative anatomy in the 1830s A. Desmond; l“1