Evolution Before Darwin - by Bill Jenkins (Paperback)

About the Book

This book is the first major study of what was probably the most important centre or pre-Darwinian evolutionary thought in the British Isles. It sheds new light on the genesis and development of one of the most important scientific theories in the history of western thought.

Book Synopsis

It was long believed that evolutionary theories received an almost universally cold reception in British natural history circles in the first half of the nineteenth century. However, a relatively recently serious doubt has been cast on this assumption. This book shows that Edinburgh in the late 1820s and early 1830s was witness to a ferment of radical new ideas on the natural world, including speculation on the origin and evolution of life, at just the time when Charles Darwin was a student in the city. Those who were students in Edinburgh at the time could have hardly avoided coming into contact with these new ideas.
This book is the first major study of what was probably the most important centre or pre-Darwinian evolutionary thought in the British Isles. It sheds new light on the genesis and development of one of the most important scientific theories in the history of western thought.

From the Back Cover

Puts Edinburgh at the centre of pre-Darwinian evolutionary thought in the British Isles This book challenges the long-held perception that theories of evolution initially received a cold reception in British natural history circles. It shows that, in the late 1820s and 1830s, Edinburgh was witness to a veritable ferment of radical new ideas on the natural world - including speculation on the origin and evolution of life - at just the time when the young Charles Darwin was a student in the city. Highlighting the work of key evolutionary thinkers of the time, including Henry H. Cheek, Robert Grant, Robert Knox and Robert Jameson, author Bill Jenkins reveals the largely neglected role that Edinburgh and its medical school played in the history of evolutionary thought. Bill Jenkins is a postdoctoral research fellow in the School of History at the University of St Andrews

Review Quotes

[...] a well-written and very interesting read and an important contribution to the historiography of (British) evolutionism.--Koen B. Tanghe, University of Gent "Journal of the History of Biology"

A well-written and very interesting read and an important contribution to the historiography of (British) evolutionism.--Koen B. Tanghe, University of Gent "Journal of the History of Biology"

Bill Jenkins masterfully explores a brilliant era for science in Scotland [...] Jenkins's excellent book significantly helps us to better understand Darwin, while still being a tribute to the brilliant Scottish civic and scientific culture of the early 19th century, to the characters who forged it, and to the open-minded institutions that made it possible.--José Carlos Sánchez-González, University of Oviedo "Centaurus"

Jenkins has introjected new life and meaning into the existing body of scholarship and greatly enriched our understanding of this critical place and period in the history of evolution theory.--Evelleen Richards "Isis"

About the Author

Dr Bill Jenkins is a lecturer in the School of History at the University of St Andrews, working on a project funded by the Leverhulme Trust entitled 'After the Enlightenment: Scottish Intellectual Life, c.1790-c.1843'. Jenkins received his PhD at the University of Edinburgh has published several papers in key journals, including the Journal of the History of Biology, Journal of Scottish Historical Studies and British Journal for the History of Science. He is the author of Evolution Before Darwin: Theories of the Transmutation of Species in Edinburgh, 1804-1834 (EUP, 2019).