Evolution for the People
Shaping Popular Ideas from Darwin to the Present

Peter Bowler reassesses the impact of evolutionary ideas on modern culture through growing historial interest in popular science.

Peter J. Bowler (Author)

9781009448994, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 28 November 2024

308 pages
22.8 x 14.9 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

'Focusing on popular science through an inspiring range of media over a long time, Bowler has brilliantly added an illuminating dimension to our understanding of the dynamic history of evolutionary theory. Evolution for the People is lively even as it is erudite. It is a joy to read. Highly recommended.' Constance Clark, Worcester Polytechnic Institute

From Darwin's The Origin of Species to the twenty-first century, Peter Bowler reinterprets the long Darwinian Revolution by refocussing our attention on the British and American public. By applying recent historical interest in popular science to evolutionary ideas, he investigates how writers and broadcasters have presented both Darwinism and its discontents. Casting new light on how the theory's more radical aspects gradually grew in the public imagination, Evolution for the People extends existing studies of the popularization of evolutionism to give a more comprehensive picture of how attitudes have changed through time. In tracing changes in public perception, Bowler explores both the cultural impact and the cultural exploitation of these ideas in science, religion, social thought and literature.

1. Bridging the gap
2. Before Darwin
3. Reacting to the Origin
4. Human ancestry
5. Evolutionary epics
6. Challenging Darwinism
7. Reconfiguring the ascent of life
8. Social evolutionism
9. The evolutionary synthesis
10. Toward the modern world.

Subject Areas: History of engineering & technology [TBX]