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...a detailed and specialised account...' Arts, The Herald '...Derry is able to point to the crucial influence that Enlightenment Edinburgh was to have on Darwin's developing mind.' Scottish Field 'An encompassing look at the time spent here by the father of evolution, it features interviews with God Delusion author Richard Dawkins, linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky, Astronomer Royal Martin Rees and Darwin's great-great-grandson RandalKeynes among others.' The Courier
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With exclusive contributions from Richard Dawkins, Noam Chomsky, Martin Rees, Aubrey Manning, Richard Holloway, Daniel C. Dennett, Randal Keynes, Brian Charlesworth, Ken Ham and others. This is the first book on Darwin and Darwinism that wholly concentrates on his time spent in Scotland and the key contributions to his future insights made by the Scottish Enlightenment and the University of Edinburgh. Darwin developed his theories because he attended Edinburgh University - although he participated little in formal tuition, it was through interaction with his tutors, peers and extracurricular groups that he was exposed to an ethos of naturalistic philosophy rooted in the Scottish Enlightenment and, by direct descent, the Ancient Greeks. If he had bypassed Scotland and gone straight to Cambridge, his education would have been theologically-based and unlikely to have given him the perspective that led him to question the prevailing doctrine. It is also the first book to explore the subsequent impact of his work on modern day biologists at the University of Edinburgh. How far have we moved on since Darwin made his discoveries? Are his theories still relevant to modern-day science? Can we say if they will be relevant in the future? And, what should we be teaching future generations? The relevance of Darwin in debate is as important and volatile now as when "The Origin of Species" was first published a century and a half ago. Science and religion seem to have reached an impasse. Intelligent Design, the conflicting view to Darwin's theory of natural selection, is the new kid on the block that the science gang wants nothing to do with. All the major issues in evolutionary study are covered here, through interviews with scientists, educators and creationists. They include some of the world leaders in the biological sciences at Edinburgh University, and they are most revealing about what Darwin has meant to them and their work.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Scottish enlightenment of Darwin,
By Martyn Murray (Scotland) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Darwin in Scotland: Edinburgh, Evolution and Enlightenment (Paperback)
Earlier accounts of Darwin's life skip across his time in Edinburgh leaving the reader - well, at least this reader - with the impression of a cold, cheerless and uninformative interlude that Darwin could not wait to escape from. Not so, as Derry's great little book reveals. At the time of Darwin's sojourn, the Scottish Enlightenment still held sway in auld Scotia and Edinburgh was the intellectual capital of Europe. As Derry shows, it was in Scotland and from Scots that the seeds of scientific empiricism took root in Darwin's fertile mind, serving him well for the rest of his creative life. Derry takes us on a journey from the clubs and classrooms of Edinburgh where the methods of thinking were learnt, onwards to the great voyages of discovery in Darwin's mind from whence his work issued forth in dazzling array, and yet further to the latest thinking in evolution as expounded by Edinburgh's living luminaries who, it seems, were universally inspired by Darwin at the beginning of their own careers.Darwin in Scotland is a pretty knot of a book tied from the flowers of the enlightenment, Darwin's lifetime of work and its thriving molecular inheritance today. It is beautifully crafted, a subtle blend of fact, anecdote, ideas, personalities and scholarship. And somehow the chapter epigraphs by Robert Burns do work - imparting an unmistakeable Scottish flavour from those Edinburgh years.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Darwin's influences and influencees north of the border,
This review is from: Darwin in Scotland: Edinburgh, Evolution and Enlightenment (Paperback)
Darwin's influences and influencees north of the border.Darwin in Scotland is really two-and-a-bit books interwoven: Book 1 does exactly what it says on the cover, describing Darwin's time in Scotland, and how the people he met and the experiences he had in Scotland affected his later life and work. It is very well researched, and a fascinating read. Book 2 comprises conversations between Derry and various scientists and academics, many with Scottish connections, on the subject of Darwin and evolution. The conversations are transcribed pretty much verbatim, making them pleasantly conversational--although the discussions themselves get pretty technical at times, which is to be applauded. The remaining small bit of the book comprises a couple of similar conversations with creationists Ken Ham and William A. Dembski. I am not at all interested in what creationists have to say on the subject of Darwin, so, I have to admit, I skipped these sections. On the whole, this unusual mix of subject matter works very well. The history bits are what we would expect to see covered in a book called Darwin in Scotland, and the interviews are, in general, interesting and entertaining. One final comment on a pet subject of mine: well done Whittles Publishing for printing this book on excellent quality paper. I am fed up forking out money for books printed on recycled blotting paper. To read a book--especially a paperback--printed on such high quality paper is a rare treat in the UK these days.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Darwin In Scotland,
This review is from: Darwin in Scotland: Edinburgh, Evolution and Enlightenment (Paperback)
I am so far the only female to review this book and while I would like to shine as a woman of science have unfortunately little experience beyond 3rd Year Biology.There were times when my brain hurt and I admit to making a few visits to the end notes and glossary. But while learned, J F Derry's book was not beyond me and I love what it had to say. I love that the earth- or maybe heaven-shattering big ideas were wrought by painstaking observation and record keeping. Poor Gregor Mendel whose understanding of genetics via pea cultivation (28000 plants) went unnoticed till 20 years after his death. In many ways the book is a paean not only to Darwin and his contemporaries, but to a way of looking at the world. I love the natural justice that sees Edinburgh, built as it is upon the evidence of volcanic and glacial activity, as the place where Darwin is exposed to the idea of deep time: the vital scale that allows for natural selection (and directly opposed to the 6000 year old earth that results from adding up all the biblical begattings.) The book is full of science and the individuals who did and do it today. There is much to enjoy and for me there was much to learn.....transmutationism, random drift, gradualism and its arch nemesis punctuated equilibrium. (Such fantastic terms) Before signing off and in the spirit of fair play Derry allows the Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents to have their say. Manners insisted that I stay around and listen but I'd already been won over by those who endeavoured and are still endeavouring towards a better understanding of how things really function in our amazing natural world. Many thanks J F Derry. I shall revisit.
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