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Darwin: 19th century reception and reactions in No

75 Live Views 5 In Crowd Andrew Reynolds “Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species : Reception and Reactions in 19th century Nova Scotia”

2009 marks the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) and the sesquicentennial of the publication of his… Andrew Reynolds “Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species : Reception and Reactions in 19th century Nova Scotia”

2009 marks the bicentennial of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) and the sesquicentennial of the publication of his best known work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (London: John Murray, 1859). Darwin and his theory of evolution touched off a long-standing discussion about human origins which continues to the present. Today we tend to view the publication of Darwin’s theory of evolution through the prism of modern discoveries, such as the genetic relatedness of humans and chimpanzees. In this talk, however, I will attempt to reconstruct Darwin as he was known at the time, principally as an author of a popular travelogue ( The Voyage of the Beagle 1839) and as an authority in geology. Given the dominant commercial interests in the coal reserves of Cape Breton and Nova Scotia generally, it was in this latter capacity that Darwin and his ideas were largely considered here. Discussions of his work and its implications largely concerned the age of the earth and the future prospects for mankind. I will discuss some of the reactions to Darwin’s work as it appeared in local publications and records. More