Collected Essays of Thomas Henry Huxley

by Thomas Henry Huxley

Huxley's Collected Essays gathers together the writings of one of the most prominent and outstanding intellectual figures of the nineteenth century. Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) was a distinguished British biologist who was known as Darwin's 'bulldog' for his defence and support of Darwin's theories following the publication of On the Origin of Species (1859). He devoted much of his career to defending Darwinism and related controversial subjects. As a great popularizer of science his influence was felt throughout the scientific, educational and political world in Victorian England. He can also be credited with inventing the term 'agnostic'.
During his distinguished career, Huxley wrote prolifically on an extraordinary range of subjects. The nine volumes contained in this set reflect this; topics range from Darwinism, evolution and science to religion, biology, education and philosophy. H. L. Mencken, the prominent American newspaperman, book reviewer and political commentator, said Huxley was 'perhaps the greatest virtuoso of plain English who has ever lived'. Originally published in 1893-4 as part of the Macmillan Eversley Series, with later editions subsequently published, the volumes can be rarely found together as a nine-volume set. The Thoemmes Press reprint of the first edition is an indispensable resource for historians of science and philosophy.

Genres: Nonfiction

3666 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Thomas Henry Huxley PC FRS HonFRSE FLS was an English biologist and anthropologist specialising in comparative anatomy. He has become known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his advocacy of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

In 1825, Thomas Henry Huxley was born in England. Huxley coined the term "agnostic" (although George Holyoake also claimed that honor). Huxley defined agnosticism as a method, "the essence of which lies in the rigorous application of a single principle . . . the axiom that every man should be able to give a reason for the faith that is in him." Huxley elaborated: "In matters of the intellect, follow your reason as far as it will take you, without any other consideration. And negatively, in matters of the intellect do not pretend that conclusions are certain which are not demonstrated or demonstrable" (from his essay "Agnosticism").

Huxley received his medical degree from Charing Cross School of Medicine, becoming a physiologist, and was awarded many other honorary degrees. He spent his youth exploring science, especially zoology and anatomy, lecturing on natural history, and writing for scientific publications. He was president of the Royal Society, and was elected to the London School Board in 1870, where he championed a number of common-sense reforms. Huxley earned the nickname "Darwin's Bulldog" when he debated Darwin's On the Origin of Species with Bishop Samuel Wilberforce in Oxford in 1860. When Wilberforce asked him which side of his family contained the ape, Huxley famously replied that he would prefer to descend from an ape than a human being who used his intellect "for the mere purpose of introducing ridicule into grave scientific discussion." Thereafter, Huxley devoted his time to the defense of science over religion. His essays included "Agnosticism and Christianity" (1889). His three rationalist grandsons were Sir Julian Huxley, a biologist, novelist Aldous Huxley, and Andrew Huxley, co-winner of a 1963 Nobel Prize. Huxley, appropriately, received the Darwin Medal in 1894. D. 1895.

More: http://freethoughtalmanac.com/?p=2093

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_H...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic...

http://www.iep.utm.edu/huxley/

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/lib...

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/nature-online/ev...

Reviews

[Fernando Barriga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting for those who want to know more about the evolution of man and how, in turn, that thought has changed over time to put it in context with what we know today.