The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine, and Reform in Radical London / Edition 1

by Adrian Desmond

Overview

Looking for the first time at the cut-price anatomy schools rather than genteel Oxbridge, Desmond winkles out pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas in reform-minded and politically charged early nineteenth-century London. In the process, he reveals the underside of London intellectual and social life in the generation before Darwin as it has never been seen before.

"The Politics of Evolution is intellectual dynamite, and certainly one of the most important books in the history of science published during the past decade."—Jim Secord, Times Literary Supplement

"One of those rare books that not only stakes out new territory but demands a radical overhaul of conventional wisdom."—John Hedley Brooke, Times Higher Education Supplement

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780226143743
Publisher:	University of Chicago Press
Publication date:	04/15/1992
Series:	Science and Its Conceptual Foundations series
Edition description:	1
Pages:	514
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Adrian Desmond is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Biology at University College, London, and is the coauthor (with James Moore) of Darwin.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
1. Evolution and Society: Setting the Scene
2. Importing the New Morphology
3. Reforming the Management of Medicine and Science: The Radical Perspective
4. Nonconformist Anatomy in the Private Schools
5. Accommodation and Domestication: Dealing with Geoffroy's Anatomy
6. Science under Siege: Forging an Idealist Comparative Anatomy at the College of Surgeons
7. Engaging the Lamarckians
8. Embryology, Archetypes, and Idealism: New Directions in Comparative Anatomy
9. Grasping the Nettle: Some Concluding Remarks
Afterword: Putting Darwin in the Picture
Appendix A: Comparative Anatomy Teachers in London in the 1830s
Appendix B: Biographical List of British Medical Men
Abbreviations
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Desmond (honorary research fellow, U. College, London) surveys the social tracts generally ignored by Darwin scholars studying the Oxbridge tradition. He analyzes the radical social factions and identifies the early audiences for the emerging dissident sciences. He finds that the social implications of evolutionary science made it unacceptable to the establishment, but attractive to the secular anatomy schools and radical noncomformist colleges. Acidic paper. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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