Almost 200 years after his birth, Charles Darwin remains a towering figure in Western society, having inspired scientific advancement, intellectual debate and moral controversy in every generation to succeed the publication of his theories. As Niles Eldredge writes in his forthcoming book, DARWIN: Discovering the Tree of Life

[W. W. Norton & Company; November 14, 2005; $35.00; cloth], “Darwin remains, like Lincoln, a symbol of a worldview. A view of what life is and how it came to be, and above all else, a view of who we humans are and how we came to be—that remains in some quarters a promise to be fully realized, and to others a satanic threat against all that is good and holy.” Needless to say, the present day controversy over Darwinian theory sparks such passionate debate that few citizens remain unaware or unaffected. But who was the man whose ideas rocked the scientific and moral foundations of his time and would prove scandalous enough to fuel a ‘culture war’ 200 years later?

Drawing on extensive primary and secondary source material including Darwin’s Transmutation notebooks and manuscripts, which are interpreted here for the first time for the general reader, Niles Eldredge presents a comprehensive study of Darwin’s challenging intellectual and personal journey. A firm believer in the scriptural creation story when he embarked on the H.M.S. Beagle, Darwin had to undergo a profound philosophical realignment. DARWIN: Discovering the Tree of Life takes as its focus Darwin’s private evolution, from ‘creationist’ to ‘evolutionist,’ as he himself documented it in the Transmutation notebooks he kept while aboard the Beagle. As Eldredge recounts, Darwin was well aware of the subversive nature of his discoveries. He struggled with his findings and kept them secret for years while contemplating the religious and social backlash he knew they would provoke. In the end, his lifelong dedication to natural history and geology motivated him to publish his theories, first in a series of essays and later in the seminal work, On the Origin of Species in 1859.

A leading evolutionary biologist himself, Eldredge explains basic concepts of evolutionary theory such as continuity, discontinuity, catastrophism and extinction. Eldredge also draws distinctions between Darwin’s theories and the contributions of later scientists, helping to contextualize and clarify the labyrinthine history of evolutionary biology. However, despite major scientific and technological advances, many of Darwin’s original explanations remain fundamental. “With all the rich array of new techniques that let us probe the depths of genetic structure…the same basic ingredients of the evolutionary process outlined by Charles Robert Darwin turn out to lie at the heart of today’s most sophisticated evolutionary theory,” Eldredge writes, “At one time or another, he basically saw it all.”

Importantly, DARWIN: Discovering the Tree of Life concludes with a look at Darwin in the 21st century. Refuting such alternative concepts as intelligent design, Eldredge demonstrates it is provable beyond doubt that all life has evolved. He defends Darwin against those who would misuse and misinterpret him for their own unscientific agendas.

The publication of DARWIN: Discovering the Tree of Life coincides with “Darwin,” the major exhibit curated by Niles Eldredge. Dedicated to Darwin in celebration of his 200 birthday in 2009, the exhibit will open on November 19, 2005 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and proceed to several major cities worldwide.

© 2005 HealthNewsDigest.com