An excerpt from the beginning of: CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM OF MAN'S ORIGIN. It is a strangely difficult thing, for one of our generation, to picture the acuteness of the upheaval brought about in 1859 by the publication of the "Origin of Species." It is hard to realize that there should have been so much novelty in the ideas expressed in the book that thought should have been overwhelmed by the new teaching; that "evolution " should have become a creed; and that "special creation" should have become an obsession. So many ...
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An excerpt from the beginning of: CHAPTER I. THE PROBLEM OF MAN'S ORIGIN. It is a strangely difficult thing, for one of our generation, to picture the acuteness of the upheaval brought about in 1859 by the publication of the "Origin of Species." It is hard to realize that there should have been so much novelty in the ideas expressed in the book that thought should have been overwhelmed by the new teaching; that "evolution " should have become a creed; and that "special creation" should have become an obsession. So many suggestions had gone forth before, so much of the path had been paved for evolution, that it seems strange how the basal idea that species were not specially created, and definitely fixed types of life, should have suddenly, as a flame, lit up the fires of the most bitter controversy carried on in modern times. It is the more wonderful when we think that, at any rate as far as the scientific world was concerned, Darwin was by no means standing as the pioneer of evolution; but was only the thoughtful student who was putting forward some easily understood explanation of the manner in which evolution had been effected. And yet of the upheaval of thought that occurred we, separated by more than fifty years from the advent of that work, can feel the bitter reality when turning the pages of any contemporary periodical in the columns of which some of the many battles were waged. Even when the opening period of hasty and unreasoning partisanship was passed, and after the first skirmishes had been fought and won for the principle of evolution, there still remained the biggest battle of all to be contested. Fifty years ago even an ardent evolutionist would feel no difficulty in keeping as a mental reservation the belief that, though no doubt the lesser beasts had been subject to the laws of gradual change, Man was aloof from all this and was a divine, a special, and a perfected creation. This mental reservation is, not unnaturally, still prevalent to-day; and I think that in 1916 one would give but an ill picture of the popular progress of the ideas first made definite by the work of Darwin, if one assumed that, in the dying of controversy, there had of necessity been a really wide acceptance of the picture of a simple evolutionary origin of Man. How completely Man can be separated, by a series of mental processes, from all the laws known to govern the modifications and progress of lower animals, even by a man of the highest scientific attainments, may be realized by the reading of such a work as the final effort of Thomas Dwight, the late distinguished Professor of Anatomy of Harvard. What Dwight, possessed of a vast store of knowledge of the structure and variations of Man and the lower animals, could do, a great host of others can do in the comfortable absence of any such precise knowledge which might influence the attitude they elected to adopt. Still, despite the mental reservations of the thinking few, and the unthinking many, the questions must be asked and answered: What are the factors of habit or environment, and what are the steps of "adaptation," "variation," or "sporting" which have led to the evolution of Man as a zoological type?
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has hardback covers. In poor condition, suitable as a reading copy. No dust jacket. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 650grams, ISBN:
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Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.
Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
Seller's Description:
PLEASE NOTE, WE DO NOT SHIP TO DENMARK. New Book. Shipped from UK in 4 to 14 days. Established seller since 2000. Please note we cannot offer an expedited shipping service from the UK.