The social history of evolution in Britain

Mark A. Gordon

College

Ramon V. Del Rosario College of Business

Department/Unit

Marketing and Advertising Department

Document Type

Article

Source Title

American Antiquity

Volume

39

Issue

2

First Page

194

Last Page

204

Publication Date

1974

Abstract

It has come to be common for scientists to study the history of scientific thought. But too often even today, we assume our present theories are "truth." Scientific histories usually describe intellectual events as either having enhanced or impeded discoveries consistent with modern theory. However, by applying the same Western worldview closely reflected its own changing social structure. The idea that nature was fixed permanently by God during the creation gave way to the idea of a constantly changing, evolving world - and, at the same time, the fixed class system of European society gave way to an industrialized society characterized by class mobility. This paper will analyze British scientific theories and biohistoric models from the Reformation to Darwin's Origin of Species.

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Disciplines

Sociology of Culture

Keywords

Social evolution; Great Britain—Civilization

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