The Secret History of Victorian Evolution

The subject of the talk is a book by an anonymous author that outsold ‘On the Origin of Species’ up until the final decade of the 19th century. The book is entitled ‘Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation’ and was published in 1844, 15 years before the renowned work by Darwin.

The book, although now relatively unknown, would have been well known to Darwin and his Victorian audience. It would have given Darwin an insight into the controversy that would surround his ‘dangerous idea’ and how to handle the wider public debate about evolution.

“Vestiges set the philosophical terms for the debate which continues to this day, very directly raising issues about God’s role in the evolutionary process”, said Professor Secord. “Darwin was agnostic and less explicit about God, and yet the last words to his readers were, ‘the Creator has imposed laws upon matter’. The seminar will look into the intricacies of the works that have sculpted our past and present perceptions of our origins.”

Professor Secord is a Professor of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Cambridge, Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project, and a fellow of Christ’s College. His main research and teaching is on the history of science from the late eighteenth century to the present.

He has written a number of books including ‘Victorian Sensation: The Extraordinary Publication, Reception, and secret Authorship of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation’, an account of the public debates about evolution in the mid-nineteenth century, which won the Pfizer Prize of the History of Science Society.

Professor Secord’s most recent publication is a selection of Darwin’s evolutionary writings, which includes the autobiographical recollections and responses to Darwin’s books from around the world.

The Faraday Institute of Science and Religion is an academic research enterprise based at St Edmund’s College. It covers topics from stem-cells and cloning to the Big Bang and the origins of the universe. The Institute provides accurate and up-to-date information to help inform and improve public understanding of the interaction between science and religion. It aims to make academic research accessible to the public through close links with a network of experts from diverse disciplines including astrophysics, geology, neuroscience, genetics, evolutionary biology, theology and history and philosophy of science.

The seminar is free and open to the public and will be followed by free refreshments and an opportunity to meet the speaker. It starts at 1pm with lunch being served from 12.30pm in the Garden Room, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge.