There are huge primary and secondary literatures on evolution and society. Required reading will be kept to an acceptable level by combining the use of a single survey textbook with short extracts from relevant (mainly primary) sources.
Course textbook:
[Bowler] = Bowler, Peter J. Evolution: The History of An Idea. 25th Anniversary ed. University of California Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780520261280.
Two other general texts that are also extremely useful are:
Larson, Edward J. Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. Modern Library, 2004. ISBN: 9780679642886.
Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution. HarperCollins, 1999. ISBN: 9780060175931.
| SES # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Introduction and Course Overview | |
| 2 | The Nature and Scope of the Historical Sciences | Chapter 1 in [Bowler]. |
| 3 | Natural History and Natural Theology |
Chapter 2 in [Bowler]. Paley, William. Chapters 1 and 2 in Natural Theology. Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780192805843. |
| 4 | The Birth of Historical Geology |
Chapter 2 in [Bowler]. pp. 35–8. Chapter 3 in [Bowler]. pp. 57–62. Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 108–14. Required ReadingLarson, Edward J. Chapter 1 in Bursting the Limits of Time. University Of Chicago Press, 2007, pp. 3–26. ISBN: 9780226731131. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 5 | Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism |
Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 115–34. Lyell, Charles. "Principles of Geology." In The Victorian Age: An Anthology of Sources and Documents. Edited by Josephine M. Guy. Penguin Classics, 1998. ISBN: 9780140435283. |
| 6 | "Victorian Sensation" – Chambers' Vestiges |
Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 134–40. Vestiges, available online at: Project Gutenberg [Dip in here and there, to get a feel for the text; don't try to read it all!] |
| 7 | Voyages of Exploration, Part I: Darwin |
Chapter 5 in [Bowler]. pp. 141–55. Darwin, Charles. Voyage of the Beagle. Penguin Classics, 1989, pp. 381–4, and 398–403. ISBN: 9780140432688. |
| 8 | Voyages of Exploration, Part II: Wallace and Bates | Wallace, Alfred Russel. "On the Law Which Has Regulated the Introduction of New Species." (1855) [This is available online at: TopSCHOLAR at Western Kentucky University.] |
| 9 | The Path to The Origin of Species |
Chapter 5 in [Bowler]. pp. 155–76. The Darwin-Wallace papers (1858); available at: The Dispersal of Darwin. |
| 10 | "Mr Darwin's Hypotheses" |
[Bowler]. pp. 177–83. Darwin, Charles. "Recapitulation and Conclusion." Chapter 14 in Origin of Species. Empire Books, 2011. ISBN: 9781619491304. Available online at: talkorigins.org. |
| 11 | Guest Lecture: Andrew Berry | |
| 12 | The Reception of Darwinism |
Chapter 6 in [Bowler]. pp. 177–223. Mini-biographies of key figures (to be circulated in class) |
| 13 | The "Gospel of Evolution" in the Late-19th Century |
Chapter 8 in [Bowler]. pp. 274–324. Huxley, Thomas. Evolution and Ethics. Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 9781419118746. [Preview with Google Books]. Available online at: Clark University: Evolution and Ethics. |
| 14 | Evolution and Eugenics |
[Bowler]. pp. 256–9, and 308–13. Galton, Francis. "Hereditary Talent and Character." Macmillan's Magazine 12 (1865): 157–66, and 318–27. Available online at: Galton.org |
| 15 | The "Eclipse of Darwinism" in Biology Around 1900 | Chapter 7 in [Bowler]. pp. 224–60. |
| 16 | The "Eclipse of Darwinism" in the Social Sciences After 1900 |
Boas, Franz. "Human Faculty as Determined by Race" and "Psychological Problems in Anthropology." A Franz Boas Reader: The Shaping of American Anthropology. Edited by George W. Stocking. University Of Chicago Press, 1989, pp. 219–21, and 243–54. ISBN: 9780226062433. [Preview with Google Books] Durkheim, Emile. "What is a Social Fact?" In Rules of Sociological Method: And Selected Texts on Sociology and Its Method. Edited by S. Lukes. Free Press, 1982, pp. 50–9. ISBN: 9780029079300. |
| 17 | Evolution and the Rise of Christian Fundamentalism |
Larson, Edward J. Chapter 9 in Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory. Modern Library, 2006, pp. 199–218. ISBN: 9780812968491. Scopes Trial, Darrow cross-examines Bryan; online at: http://www.beliefnet.com/news/science-religion/1999/12/clarence-darrows-examination-of-william-jennings-bryan-at-the-1925-scopes-trial.aspx |
| 18 | Movie: Inherit the Wind | |
| 19 | Darwinism, Mendelism and the Birth of the "Modern Synthesis" | Chapter 9 in [Bowler]. pp. 325–46. |
| 20 | Changing Understand of Human Origins |
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 347–55. Landau, Misia. "Human Evolution as Narrative." ( |
| 21 | Darwinism and Behavior: From Ethology to Sociobiology |
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 353–66. Wilson, E. O. "What is Sociobiology?" Sociobiology and Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Critique and Defense (1978): 1–12. Available online at: Pfeiffer University. |
| 22 | The Creation Controversies: From "Scientific Creationism" to "Intelligent Design" |
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 375–81. McLean versus Arkansas Board of Education (1982), available on-line at: talkorigins.org. Kitzmiller versus Dover Area School District, Decision of the Court, 31 December 2005; available on-line at:talkorigins.org. Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwin's God. Harper Perennial, 2007. ISBN: 9780061233500. |
| 23 | Guest Lecture | |
| 24 | Reclaiming Evolution for the Social Sciences: the New Evolutionary Psychology | Cosmides, Leda, and John Tooby. "Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer." 1997. Available online at: UC Santa Barbara: Center for Evolutionary Psychology. |
| 25 | Evolutionary Humanism, from Julian Huxley to E.O. Wilson | Ira Flatow interview with E. O. Wilson about his book, The Creation, on NPR (8th September 2006), available on-line at: npr.org. |
| 26 | Stocktaking: What Makes Evolutionary Biology Special? |
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