A history of evolution

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About this book

"A history of evolution by Carroll Lane Fenton" is a concise historical account of science written in the early 20th century. It surveys the development of the idea of organic evolution—what it is, how it works, and how people came to accept it—moving from ancient speculation to modern scientific methods. The book opens with Greek nature-philosophers (Thales, Anaximander, Empedocles, Aristotle, Epicurus, Lucretius), then follows the thread through early Christian thinkers (notably Augustine), medieval Arabic scholarship, and the Renaissance and Enlightenment philosophers (Bacon, Descartes, Leibnitz, Kant) who argued for natural causes. It contrasts fanciful “speculative” writers with the “great naturalists”: Linnaeus’s classification, Buffon’s variability and environment, Erasmus Darwin’s transformist hints, and Lamarck’s use–disuse and branching descent, with support from St.-Hilaire, Goethe, and Treviranus. The core narrative centers on Charles Darwin’s method and synthesis—variation, the struggle for existence, and natural selection—his evidence, the controversy, and Huxley’s public defense.