The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine, and Reform in Radical London

Front Cover
University of Chicago Press, 1989 - History - 503 pages
Looking for the first time at the cut-price anatomy schools rather than genteel Oxbridge, Desmond winkles out pre-Darwinian evolutionary ideas in reform-minded and politically charged early nineteenth-century London. In the process, he reveals the underside of London intellectual and social life in the generation before Darwin as it has never been seen before.

"The Politics of Evolution is intellectual dynamite, and certainly one of the most important books in the history of science published during the past decade."—Jim Secord, Times Literary Supplement

"One of those rare books that not only stakes out new territory but demands a radical overhaul of conventional wisdom."—John Hedley Brooke, Times Higher Education Supplement
 

Contents

Importing the New Morphology
25
Nonconformist Anatomy in the Private Schools
152
Dealing with
193
Forging an Idealist Comparative
236
Engaging the Lamarckians
276
New Directions
335
Some Concluding Remarks
373

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About the author (1989)

Adrian Desmond is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Biology at University College, London, and is the coauthor (with James Moore) of Darwin.

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