Evolution Before Darwin

Theories of the Transmutation of Species in Edinburgh, 18041834

By: Bill Jenkins

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Paperback | 31 August 2021

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232 Pages

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23.4 x 15.6 x 1.6

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It was long believed that evolutionary theories received an almost universally cold reception in British natural history circles in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, a relatively recently serious doubt has been cast on this assumption. This book shows that Edinburgh in the late 1820s and early 1830s was witness to a ferment of radical new ideas on the natural world, including speculation on the origin and evolution of life, at just the time when Charles Darwin was a student in the city. Those who were students in Edinburgh at the time could have hardly avoided coming into contact with these new ideas.

This book is the first major study of what was probably the most important centre or pre-Darwinian evolutionary thought in the British Isles. It sheds new light on the genesis and development of one of the most important scientific theories in the history of western thought.

Industry Reviews

[...] a well-written and very interesting read and an important contribution to the historiography of (British) evolutionism.--Koen B. Tanghe, University of Gent "Journal of the History of Biology"
A well-written and very interesting read and an important contribution to the historiography of (British) evolutionism.--Koen B. Tanghe, University of Gent "Journal of the History of Biology"
Bill Jenkins masterfully explores a brilliant era for science in Scotland [...] Jenkins's excellent book significantly helps us to better understand Darwin, while still being a tribute to the brilliant Scottish civic and scientific culture of the early 19th century, to the characters who forged it, and to the open-minded institutions that made it possible.--Jos? Carlos S?nchez-Gonz?lez, University of Oviedo "Centaurus"
Jenkins has introjected new life and meaning into the existing body of scholarship and greatly enriched our understanding of this critical place and period in the history of evolution theory.--Evelleen Richards "Isis"

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