The Evolution Wars: A Guide to the Debates

by Michael Ruse

The Evolution Wars draws on history, science, and philosophy to examine the development of evolutionary thought through the past two and a half centuries. It focuses on the debates that have engaged, divided, and ultimately provoked scientists to ponder the origins of organisms—including humankind—paying regard to the nineteenth-century clash over the nature of classification and debates about the fossil record, genetics, and human nature. Much attention is paid to external factors and the underlying motives of scientists.

In these pages you will meet Charles Darwin’s ebullient grandfather Erasmus, the contentious Frenchmen Georges Cuvier and Etienne Geoffroy Stain-Hillaire, new creationist Phillip Johnson, the brilliant J. B. S. Haldane, outspoken Richard Dawkins, and many other stars of the debates.

The Evolution Wars explores the ten greatest controversies surrounding evolution in world history, with emphasis on recent times, including the infamous Scopes trial of the 1920 the search for human origins and speculation about the “missing link,” spurred by the discovery of “Lucy;” the debate surrounding the new theory of paleontology proposed by Stephen Jay Gould; and the rise of teaching “creation science” in public school as a subject on par with evolution. Although the author takes a strong stand on the side of evolution, he also shows respect for dissenting viewpoints. Thus, the book is intellectually rewarding not only for evolutionists but also for opponents of evolution theory, especially those who want to see how one of the great ideas of Western civilization resonates through time, both within and beyond the scientific community.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Nonfiction, Philosophy, History

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Michael Escott Ruse was a British-born Canadian philosopher of science who specialised in the philosophy of biology and worked on the relationship between science and religion, the creation–evolution controversy, and the demarcation problem within science. Ruse began his career teaching at The University of Guelph and spent many years at Florida State University.

Reviews

[U Recife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you want to understand how the Theory of Evolution evolved? This is the book. Michael Ruse is a great story teller, and he guides us throughout the debates, allowing us a glimpse on how these discussions propel the idea forward, becoming what it has become today. As Edward O. Wilson says on the preface to the 1st edition of this book, "Let me put my endorsement another way. Suppose I were told that all my memory of the evolution controversies, from Darwin's time forward, were to be erased an hour hence, and, before this calamity (there have been times I would have thought it a blessing) I were allowed to choose a book to begin my reeducation. I would select, and therefore here recommend, for clarity and good humor as well as substance, The Evolution Wars."

[Rachel C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ended up being a fairly useful book to me when I was writing up a paper, though I didn't get to read all of it. The part I read was good, but a bit overly detailed... though I guess that was the point XD