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Thomas Henry Huxley: The Evolution of a Scientist
English biologist Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95) was the foremost advocate of Darwin's theory of evolution, which he was "prepared to go to the stake" to defend. The controversies surrounding Darwin in the Victorian age became a vehicle for Huxley to gain power in intellectual, institutional, and political arenas.Yet in this investigation of Huxley's motivations in science, Sherrie L. Lyons uncovers Huxley's skepticism of two basic tenets of Darwin's theory - natural selection and gradualism. His criticism of Darwinian science as being too simplistic led to a strengthening of evolutionary theory, rather than a weakening of it. A self-appointed defender of truth, Huxley developed his own research program, examining philosophy prior to Darwin in an effort to fill the holes in evolutionary theory. Lyons also looks at Huxley's conversion from saltation to gradualism, and his views on progression and the fossil record.As Huxley's interest in developmental morphology continues to be crucial in studying problems in comparative anatomy, embryology, paleontology, and evolution, this book is essential to students of Darwin, Huxley, and the scientific enterprise.
362 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1999
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March 23, 2010It would be very difficult to exaggerate the importance of this biography. As an example of a particular approach to the history of science, that is, the social origins of scientific ideas, the work is emminently successful. As an example of cultural history, specifically the intellectual and cultural history of Victorian England, the book is extraordinarily illuminating. As social history, an account of the formation and rise to influence and power in many domains of "scientists," the book has no equal that I know of. As an account of the development of "agnosticism" - a term that Huxley coined - and the stuggle of its adherents with establishment Anglicanism, none better or more fully documented. As a biography, the story of Huxley's life, quite complete and engaging. Despite its considerable length, 650 pages of very small type, it's definitely a read-again book.
I will also not that Ms. Lyons is quite a gifted writer and prose stylist. A delight to read.
I will also not that Ms. Lyons is quite a gifted writer and prose stylist. A delight to read.
July 17, 2014
Thomas Henry Huxley, The Evolution of a Scientist by Sherrie Lyons
Science advances exploded in the 19th century, led in England by the likes of Charles Lyell (whom many consider to be the father of geology) and Charles Darwin, who all know as the father of common ancestry biological evolution. Those who know Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) at all, know him as “Darwin’s Bulldog,” the sharp and combative defender of the Darwinian model. But Huxley was a prominent scientist in his own right with his own views and hypotheses, often at odds with Darwin’s.
This book is an excellent, informative and very readable work of science history. It is not a biography; a fact that took me a couple of chapters to adjust to. The book is the history of the science of THH (and Darwin and the other great minds of that exciting era) and how Huxley’s science and views evolved over his career. Lyons comprehensively places the science and the scientists in the context of the times and socio-religious setting.
The author shows us that while THH was indeed Darwin’s great defender, Huxley never accepted Darwin’s central premise of natural selection as the only force driving species change. Those debates continue to this day and fueled the great 30-year 20th century ongoing argument between Stephen J. Gould of Harvard and Richard Dawkins of Oxford. While I find the debates of the mechanics of evolution only mildly interesting, I loved this book because Lyons continually stressed home the central premise of Huxley that worked to place science on a whole new level – the separation of science from theology. How much THH was responsible for this separation I do not know and Lyons does not offer an opinion – but the separation did take place, and rapidly. And that uncoupling of science from theology prepared the way for the explosion of science knowledge in the 20th century. For unshackling science from theology, we all owe a great debt of thanks to Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley.
Now I wish I could find a good biography of the Huxley family. THH’s descendants include Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley and Andrew Huxley, each significant contributors to the fields of evolutionary biology, literature and medicine.
Science advances exploded in the 19th century, led in England by the likes of Charles Lyell (whom many consider to be the father of geology) and Charles Darwin, who all know as the father of common ancestry biological evolution. Those who know Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) at all, know him as “Darwin’s Bulldog,” the sharp and combative defender of the Darwinian model. But Huxley was a prominent scientist in his own right with his own views and hypotheses, often at odds with Darwin’s.
This book is an excellent, informative and very readable work of science history. It is not a biography; a fact that took me a couple of chapters to adjust to. The book is the history of the science of THH (and Darwin and the other great minds of that exciting era) and how Huxley’s science and views evolved over his career. Lyons comprehensively places the science and the scientists in the context of the times and socio-religious setting.
The author shows us that while THH was indeed Darwin’s great defender, Huxley never accepted Darwin’s central premise of natural selection as the only force driving species change. Those debates continue to this day and fueled the great 30-year 20th century ongoing argument between Stephen J. Gould of Harvard and Richard Dawkins of Oxford. While I find the debates of the mechanics of evolution only mildly interesting, I loved this book because Lyons continually stressed home the central premise of Huxley that worked to place science on a whole new level – the separation of science from theology. How much THH was responsible for this separation I do not know and Lyons does not offer an opinion – but the separation did take place, and rapidly. And that uncoupling of science from theology prepared the way for the explosion of science knowledge in the 20th century. For unshackling science from theology, we all owe a great debt of thanks to Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry Huxley.
Now I wish I could find a good biography of the Huxley family. THH’s descendants include Julian Huxley, Aldous Huxley and Andrew Huxley, each significant contributors to the fields of evolutionary biology, literature and medicine.
January 20, 2009
Excellent biography of "Darwin's Bulldog," the man who more than any other, took on the establishment to promote Darwin's new theory of evolution. One of my heroes.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews