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[[File:lamarckgiraffe.jpg|400px|left|thumbnail|Lamark's giraffe]]The few decades preceding the publication of Charles Darwin’s ''On the Origin of Species'' in 1859 played an important role in setting the stage for how Darwin’s treatise would be received amongst the general public. It is during this time that the working classes, in Britain and most of Western Europe, as well as America, were developing their own sense of identity. A new class unity was slowly forming, founded upon principles of separateness from the upper classes, or as British historian EP Thompson puts it, “the consciousness of an identity of interests as between all these diverse groups of working people and as against the interests of other classes.”<ref> Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class.</ref> Crucial to this new consciousness was the recognition of the power of knowledge and education. A combination of factors, ranging from new types of schooling to the wide readership of “penny” newspapers had created a more literate and political working class. The middle and upper classes feared that the tight grip they had on knowledge and its distribution was being loosened by men who had hitherto been mostly apathetic insofar as education and schooling were concerned.
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[[File:lamarckgiraffe.jpg|400px|left|thumbnail|Lamark's giraffe]]
The few decades preceding the publication of Charles Darwin’s ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0486450066/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0486450066&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=69b2f35bde91f0a7071d1c0b2594219b On the Origin of Species]'' in 1859 played an important role in setting the stage for how Darwin’s treatise would be received amongst the general public. It is during this time that the working classes, in Britain and most of Western Europe, as well as America, were developing their own sense of identity. A new class unity was slowly forming, founded upon principles of separateness from the upper classes, or as British historian EP Thompson puts it, “the consciousness of an identity of interests as between all these diverse groups of working people and as against the interests of other classes.”<ref> Thompson, The Making of the English Working Class.</ref>
====CLASS, EDUCATION, & EVOLUTION====
The proper role of science in the community, and to what extent amateurs should be allowed to interfere with and influence this role, was a brand new topic of debate in the 1800s. Before this time, science was the domain of the gentleman amateurs. Generally, those who were without money and class simply did not have the means to study and engage with scientific discoveries. The advent of the printing press and cheap working-class science periodicals during the beginning of the nineteenth century had scientific knowledge locked in a game of tug-of-war between the scientific elite and everyone else. The elite saw themselves as the producers of science; in their minds, they conceived the theories while everyone else (and especially those who were not members of the upper classes) exploited and misunderstood them.
We should not look at the theories that preceded Darwin’s theory of natural selection as incorrect or superseded, but rather as important and crucial steps on the road to a better understanding of evolution. It is highly unlikely the Darwin would’ve conceived of his theory without referencing the ideas of previous philosophers and men of science, so we should give these ideas their due.
====EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS BEFORE CHARLES DARWIN====
[[File:darwinfinches.jpg|400px|left|Darwin's explanation of finch evolution]]
Geology was another popular topic of study among gentlemen naturalists of the Victorian era. While studying the geological formations of the earth, most learned men of science felt compelled to reconcile their findings with biblical teachings, as was standard during this time. The Bible held that the earth was 6000 years old, so any and all discoveries made by geologists must somehow fit into this timeframe. “Catastrophism” – the theory that changes in the Earth’s crust resulted from sudden violent and unusual events – was the name of the game during this time as this theory was easily reconcilable with the biblical account of Earth’s creation. This theory held that mountains and valleys were formed during catastrophic events, over a short period of time; these catastrophic events were responsible for the various layers of sediment and fossils. The so-called “gentlemen scientists” of the Victorian era had no problem reconciling their findings with their Christian beliefs, as biblical accounts like Noah’s flood were seen as perfect examples of catastrophic events that had shaped the earth’s crust.
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Catastrophism enjoyed widespread popularity among the men of science during the Victorian era until a Scottish lawyer and amateur geologist named Charles Lyell came along. Lyell’s ''Principles of Geology'' (1830-33) was perhaps the most important work on geological science ever published. In this three-volume book, Lyell used a slew of geological findings to strengthen his argument for his new theory: Uniformitarianism. This theory changed the very foundation of geological science – Lyell provided almost irrefutable proof that the Earth was older than 6000 years. With Lyell’s theory, the Earth went from being a young planet whose crust was shaped by catastrophic events, to an ancient planet whose layers had developed over vast periods of time. But this didn’t happen overnight. As we shall soon see, the idea of an Earth that was millions, or even billions, of years old was a crucial element in Darwin’s development of the theory of natural selection.
====EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS HIT THE MAINSTREAM====
[[File:darwinevo1844small.jpg|left|300px|thumbnail|Darwin's journal entry from 1844]]
While Darwin was hard at work on his theory of natural selection, in 1844, a book entitled ''Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation'' was published in London.<ref> For an excellent study of this work, see: Secord, Victorian Sensation.</ref> Giving credit to Darwin’s reluctance to make his own findings known, ''Vestiges '' was written by an anonymous author who feared for his own social standing if the “blasphemous” concepts in this book were linked back to him. This work put forth the theory that everything in existence had evolved from some earlier form – this included plants, animals, the solar system, and even mankind. It blended recent theories in astronomy, medical science, geology, and the brand-new science of psychology, and it did so in a way that could be understood by those without a background in science. The work gave credence to Jean Baptiste Lamarck’s previous work on evolutionary theory, but held that Lamarck’s mechanism of evolution (the inheritance of acquired characteristics) was flawed and incorrect. The book was elegantly written – its narrative tied together various scientific theories that had been floating around during the time in an easily readable way.
''Vestiges '' soon became an international best seller, but despite its popularity among the general public, the book was met with resounding criticism from clergymen and scientists alike. The Reverend Adam Sedgwick, who was perhaps the most well known scriptural geologist of the time, said the following of ''Vestiges'': “…our author’s work is not merely shallow and superficial, but utterly false throughout to all the principles of sound philosophy…”.<ref>Bosanquet, “Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation”: Its Argument Examined and Exposed.</ref> Sedgwick initially surmised, given the book’s disregard of “accepted” scientific knowledge and poor logic, that it had almost certainly been written by a woman – a most scathing criticism at the time. Forty years after its initial publication, a Scottish author and journal editor named Robert Chambers was discovered as the author of Vestiges.
In his early editions of ''On the Origin of Species'', first published in 1859, Charles Darwin remarked that ''Vestiges'' was vital in preparing the public for his own theory of evolution by natural selection. In the third edition of ''Origin'', Darwin commented that ''Vestiges'' had “done an excellent service in calling this country’s attention to the subject, in removing prejudice, and in thus preparing the ground for the reception of analogous views”.<ref>Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, xvi.</ref> Darwin had actually written down his theory of natural selection in his personal journals the same year that ''Vestiges '' was published, 1844, but stalled in publishing his findings, especially after he saw the harsh criticism that ''Vestiges'' received from the learned men of science.
Darwin gathered up the courage to publish ''On the Origin of Species'' primarily because a naturalist named Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a copy of a manuscript that expounded a mechanism of evolution that was oddly similar to Darwin’s own. It seemed that the two men had independently come to a very similar conclusion – that the primary evolutionary mechanism was the “survival of the fittest”, as it would later come to be known. Darwin and Wallace decided to present their work to the Linnean Society (a sort of gentlemen’s club of natural history) together in July of 1858, but their joint lecture drew little attention. Darwin would finally publish ''Origin'' the next year, in 1859. The book was immensely popular – drawing both high praise and brutal censure – but the scientific world would never be the same.
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[[Category:History of Science]][[Category:19th Century History]][[Category:British History]][[Category:European History]][[Category:Wikis]]
