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Evolutionary Naturalism in Victorian Britain

The 'Darwinians' and their Critics

Bernard Lightman author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Taylor & Francis Ltd

Published:28th Mar '09

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Evolutionary Naturalism in Victorian Britain cover

Scholars have tended to portray T.H. Huxley, John Tyndall, and their allies as the dominant cultural authority in the second half of the 19th century. Defenders of Darwin and his theory of evolution, these men of science are often seen as a potent force for the secularization of British intellectual and social life. In this collection of essays Bernard Lightman argues that historians have exaggerated the power of scientific naturalism to undermine the role of religion in middle and late-Victorian Britain. The essays deal with the evolutionary naturalists, especially the biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, the physicist John Tyndall, and the philosopher of evolution, Herbert Spencer. But they look also at those who criticized this influential group of elite intellectuals, including aristocratic spokesman A. J Balfour, the novelist Samuel Butler, and the popularizer of science Frank Buckland. Focusing on the theme of the limitations of the cultural power of evolutionary naturalism, the volume points to the enduring strength of religion in Britain in the latter half of the 19th century.

’This volume is the record of a major achievement and will be very useful in making that achievement more easily available to a new generation of scholars.’ British Journal for the History of Science '... [this] collection is undoubtedly an excellent one...' Victorian Studies

ISBN: 9780754659877

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 725g

348 pages