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History of Medicine

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Banner for Rewriting the Book of Nature: Charles Darwin and the Rise of Evolutionary Theory banner with a portrait of Charles Darwin, around age 58. Image A018944 from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).

Going Further

Works about Charles Darwin continued


Portrait of Charles Darwin (1809–1882), around age 45, from a photograph by Maull & Fox, ca. 1854. Image B05043 from the Images from the History of Medicine (IHM).

8. “Darwin”

The major museum exhibition on Darwin’s life and work, curated by Niles Eldredge of the American Museum of Natural History, New York. In addition to New York, other major venues are the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, and the Natural History Museum, London. Smaller versions were mounted at the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto; and the Museum of Science, Boston. Exhibit dates and web addresses for the three major venues are:

9. Darwin200. http://www.darwin200.org/ A British-based set of programs around the Darwin bicentenary; full listing of events available at the above URL.

10. Desmond, Adrian, and James Moore. Darwin’s Sacred Cause: How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin᾿s Views on Human Evolution. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

A well regarded book that effectively links Darwin’s social and intellectual milieu with his scientific theories. Other recommended works by Desmond and Moore include their joint biography, Darwin (1992), and Desmond’s The Politics of Evolution: Morphology, Medicine, and Reform in Radical London (1989).

11. Richards, Robert J. Darwin and the Emergence of Evolutionary Theories of Mind and Behavior. Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987.

A scholarly treatment that highlights Darwin’s concern that his theory apply to the full range of natural history, that is, not just anatomy, but ethology.

12. Ruse, Michael. Darwinism and Its Discontents. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2006.

A modern defense of the scientific claims of Darwinian evolution, as well as an attempt to delineate the proper extensions of the theory to religion and ethics. The book also includes a discussion of the influence of Darwinism on literature.

13. Ruse, Michael, and Robert J. Richards. The Cambridge Companion to the “Origin of Species.” Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008.

A compilation of articles and interpretations of Darwin.

Works by Charles Darwin

For comprehensive and partial bibliographies, see the following:

Last Reviewed: September 19, 2018