February 24 – Anniversary of The Descent of Man

nPostednon February 24, 2015

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Whennasked, “What book did Charles Darwin write?” most people whonanswered at all would say, “On the Origin of Species.”nThat was his first book about evolutionary theory, and it made thenbiggest splash in terms of controversy from scientists and thengeneral public alike.

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nButnalthough that first book implied that, if modern animals had evolvednfrom simpler forms, humans, too, had evolved from “lower” animals—Darwinnhad been careful not to explore that concept in Origin. He let it just hang there,nin the air: it was implied, not clearly stated.

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nActually, Darwinnhad so little wanted to provoke controversy, he had sat on hisnunpublished evolutionary theory for 20 years! But in 1859, Origin wasnpublished, the word was out, and the firestorm of response began. n

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Flashnforward to this date in 1871. In the 11 years since Origin,nplenty of people had discussed and debated and written and publishednideas about the evolution of human beings, but now Darwin weighed innon the topic with his book The Descent of Man. Finally Darwin was ready to state that humans, too, had evolved. People had common ancestors with other animals and even plants and mushrooms and protists!

See also January 12 - Lee-Jackson Day

(Remember, Darwin was not the first to claim that humans evolved. But his account of how evolutionary theory applied to humans was an important step in the field.)

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nAnlot of people have made claims about the book The Descent of Man: Darwin was racist,nthey say, or Darwin wanted to kill off “weaker” humans in favornof the strong. Eugenics—the idea of making the human race better bynmaking the genetic pool better, taller, smarter, stronger, morenbeautiful, by controlling breeding—is supposed to have gotten itsnstart with Darwin’s book.

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nItnis clear that Darwin was a bit racist by today’s standards. However,nfor an Englishman of his own time—a time when many argued thatndifferent races were actually different species—Darwin was notablenfor how minor he thought racial differences were. His book argued, with evidence, that all humans were the same species and shared common ancestors, and pointed out the similarities between all peoples. Also, Darwin was annabolitionist. He first saw slavery in Brazil, while on his famousnvoyage on the Beagle, and it had horrified him. He thoughtnthat “the race question” was one of the most important of hisntime.

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Before Darwin (and unfortunately,
in some cases, even after
Darwin), some people would
have answered this plea, “No,
you’re not a man and a brother.”

nIt is also clear that Darwin seemed to think that it was inevitable that less technologicalnpeople would either die off or be absorbed by what he calledn“civilised races.” However, he actually argued that people shouldnNOT try to weed out the “weak” but instead should help the weaknand the ill.

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Darwin’s work and booknpromoted our modern view: that all humans are the same species; thatnall people came from “savage” origins; that cultural differencesnswamp any minor physical differences among peoples.

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nAlsonon this date: