Summary
Title: Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture
Author: Martin Fichman
Publisher: Humanity Books
ISBN: 1591020034
Pro:
• Well-written, engaging, and accessible for average readers
• Good accounts of how evolution was a cultural as well as scientific force
Con:
• None
Description:
• History of debates about evolution in Victorian-era England
• History of how science came to be integral to popular culture
• Exploration of how culture was affected by evolutionary theory when it was introduced
Book Review
Although evolution is certainly a scientific theory and a topic of scientific research, it is also so much more. It carries with it profound political, social, and religious implications, so of course it will engender debates on all of those levels. This was just as true in the Victorian era when Darwinian evolution first hit the scientific and social scene, and that is the focus of Martin Fichman’s recent book, Evolutionary Theory and Victorian Culture. Fichman, a professor of Humanities and History at York University, describes how science was developing into a potent social force during the 19th century:
The world of the mid-nineteenth century witnessed dramatic advances in science. But “science” meant only partly the empirical approach to nature. More immediately, more tangibly, science meant to most people the secondary results of that empirical method: the products of technology.”
Although science certainly existed long before the Victorian era, it was at this time that science was becoming integral to both culture and people’s general perception of culture. The 19th century was a time when people in Europe and America came to be almost obsessed with progress — progress of all kinds, including technology, science, politics, and society. Evolutionary theory, with its apparent support for the idea of general biological progress, fit in quite well:
- “Particularly in the English-speaking world, progressive movements, progressive thinkers, and progressive political parties all benefited from the wide, if confusing, scope afforded by the concept of evolutionary progress.”
Unfortunately, it was also a good fit for the already well-developed scientific effort to support the perception that there existed fundamental differences between races, and in particular that whites were inherently and biologically superior. Science generally and evolutionary explanations of origins specifically were drafted into the service of wider social and political agendas involving racism, discrimination, and imperialism. Science may be value-neutral, but the use of science and scientific conclusions rarely is.
Obviously, evolution and the study of evolution can have serious implications for discussions about subjects like human nature, human origins, human differences, and human society generally. Because of this, we all have an interest in both the scientific conclusions that come out of evolutionary theory and the ways in which those conclusions are used.
This sets the stage for the fierce debates over evolution which marked the 20th century and which continue today; unfortunately, so many have refused to address the actual issues themselves. Out of fear of what evolution might mean, many have chosen instead to deny it completely. This is a shame, because while there isn’t a valid basis for denying evolution, there is a valid basis for disputing what evolution might mean and what its consequences should be on political, social, and religious levels. Opponents have, however, effectively removed themselves from those debates.
Understanding the long-term relationship between evolution and culture, and why cultural considerations are such an important factor in the status of evolutionary theory, is important in understanding the sharply negative reactions which meet the teaching of evolution in public schools today. Fichman’s book is a very good step in learning more about how science and popular culture came to be intertwined and how the earliest political and religious controversies continue to resonate today.
