{"id":2707,"date":"2009-02-13T12:52:06","date_gmt":"2009-02-13T12:52:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/?p=2707"},"modified":"2011-04-16T02:14:18","modified_gmt":"2011-04-16T01:14:18","slug":"darwins-sacred-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicatescience.com\/zoonomian\/2009\/02\/13\/darwins-sacred-cause\/","title":{"rendered":"Darwin’s Sacred Cause"},"content":{"rendered":"
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As any Darwin aficionado will tell you, as this celebratory week draws to a close, there is one biography of Charles Darwin that stands out from the crowd.<\/p>\n

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\"James
James Moore, Olivia Judson, and Adrian Desmond at Imperial College (photo Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Olivia
Olivia Judson and Adrian Desmond at Imperial College (photo Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"James
James Moore & Olivia Judson at Imperial College (photo Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not only is Adrian Desmond’s and James Moore’s 1991 ‘Darwin<\/em>‘ comprehensive at 677 pages before the notes, it’s brick-like iconicity somehow speaks of closure, the last word, to any further debate about Darwin.<\/p>\n

On a personal note, not withstanding Janet Browne’s Voyaging<\/em> and Power of Place<\/em>, which are both excellent reads, and show that Darwin<\/em> was not in fact the last word, I have a particular affection for the Desmond and Moore biography.\u00a0\u00a0 It’s simply one of the few books of\u00a0 length that I’ve ever\u00a0 found the right combination of time and inclination to read right through non-stop; it took about a week one Christmas holiday.\u00a0 And as with all good biographies of departed figures, that level of immersion leaves one genuinely saddened when the subject dies.<\/p>\n

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Adrian Desmond talks about Darwin's Sacred Cause (photo Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So it was with some interest last Monday, that I walked the whole 100 feet\u00a0 or so from my department at Imperial College to the Great Hall, to join a public conversation with Olivia Judson interviewing Adrian Desmond and James Moore.\u00a0 The theme –\u00a0 the authors’\u00a0 NEW book, ‘Darwin’s Sacred Cause<\/em>‘.<\/p>\n

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James Moore (photo: Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This post isn’t a book review.\u00a0 As much as I’d like to drop everything else and read it – I haven’t found the time yet! \u00a0 Thankfully, it looks nothing in length like (as Desmond reminded us at this session) ‘the brick’.<\/p>\n

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Olivia Judson (photo: Tim Jones, Darkroommatter.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rather – before it becomes completely old news, I’ll point you to this online lecture podcast from Imperial College<\/a> that helpfully captures the whole session.<\/p>\n

That said, as a brief preview, the focus of the conversation is around Darwin and race, and the argument that man (as opposed to finches and other animals) was the core motivation behind developments in the theory of natural selection and the writing of the Origin of Species<\/em>.\u00a0 The Origin<\/em> itself, we are told, was originally conceived to include extensive discussion on man and race.\u00a0 The authors further link Darwin’s feelings about race back to a family upbringing and tradition steeped in benevolence and an active opposition to slavery.<\/p>\n

Enough said for now – maybe more when I’ve read the book!
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