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Evolution of Racism: The Human Differences and the Use and Abuse of Science
Combines a history of evolutionary theory with a study of its impact on ideas about race and racism to explain how the fear of making politically unacceptable discoveries has prevented scientists from honestly exploring human racial differences
320 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1994
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About the author
Pat Shipman
19 books43 followersPat Shipman is a professor of anthropology at Penn State University. Coauthor of the award-winning The Ape in the Tree, she writes for American Scientist and lives in Moncure, North Carolina.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 18, 2007
An absolutely amazing book on how Evolution has been used as a tool to justify racism. Well and engagingly written, it was one of the 2 nonfiction books that I devoured cover to cover in college (as opposed to skimming through just to pass a test).
May 11, 2016
This book is an in depth discussion of evolution, specifically how it has been used and misused by people to justify their ideas concerning race. It begins with Darwin's "The Origin of the Species" and continues to the present with the identification of genetic markers. I wanted to read this book to refresh in my mind Social Darwinism was/is, to reacquaint myself with arguments regarding eugenics, and to acquaint myself with advances in physical anthropology and genetics. I also thought the historical material would be apropos given the current political climate regarding immigration, #blacklivesmatter, and Islamophobia. This book satisfies my 2016 Reading Challenge "read a nonfiction book about science". (
August 30, 2025
too garrulous for my liking
June 14, 2022
This is a book that takes a very long time to get around to its point, and when it does finally reach it, doesn't seem to know what it actually wishes to say.
The first half or even two thirds of the book is a recounting of Darwin's struggle around publishing On the Origin of Species, including his interactions with Wallace and how scientific credit was portioned out. We then are presented with a recounting of Huxley's popularization of evolution and some of the more infamous public clashes with opponents of the then-new theory. None of this is presented badly, but it feels like a very long preamble. If you've read much about Darwin, most of this is pretty familiar. If this is your main area of interest, there are good Darwin biographies, including Browne's great two volume biography.
To me, the book's best section is the discussion of how the theory was seen in Germany and the strange politics that became associated with both proponents and opponents. Virulent anti-Semitism long predated Darwin in Germany, but these theories were able to be marshaled in support of eugenic ideas that ultimately came to be an intellectual undergird to the holocaust.
Most of the last third of the book is dedicated fleshing out disputes that happened mainly in academic journals and conferences. There is very little discussion of larger political misuse of Darwin's ideas, which seems like it should have been fertile ground. Instead we end up with a small bore discussion of exactly what topics academics should study and some tsk tsking at those who urge caution at sharing certain scientific results that may be misappropriated by racists to suggest that one race or another has genetic predilections toward crime or higher or lower intelligence, etc.
When all was said and done, I'm not sure whether I agree or not with Shipman's conclusions on academic research, but I certainly felt like we had not really discussed the heart of the matter, the inappropriateness of social Darwinism and continued impact of eugenic ideas that repackage racism in a pseudo-scientific wrapper.
The first half or even two thirds of the book is a recounting of Darwin's struggle around publishing On the Origin of Species, including his interactions with Wallace and how scientific credit was portioned out. We then are presented with a recounting of Huxley's popularization of evolution and some of the more infamous public clashes with opponents of the then-new theory. None of this is presented badly, but it feels like a very long preamble. If you've read much about Darwin, most of this is pretty familiar. If this is your main area of interest, there are good Darwin biographies, including Browne's great two volume biography.
To me, the book's best section is the discussion of how the theory was seen in Germany and the strange politics that became associated with both proponents and opponents. Virulent anti-Semitism long predated Darwin in Germany, but these theories were able to be marshaled in support of eugenic ideas that ultimately came to be an intellectual undergird to the holocaust.
Most of the last third of the book is dedicated fleshing out disputes that happened mainly in academic journals and conferences. There is very little discussion of larger political misuse of Darwin's ideas, which seems like it should have been fertile ground. Instead we end up with a small bore discussion of exactly what topics academics should study and some tsk tsking at those who urge caution at sharing certain scientific results that may be misappropriated by racists to suggest that one race or another has genetic predilections toward crime or higher or lower intelligence, etc.
When all was said and done, I'm not sure whether I agree or not with Shipman's conclusions on academic research, but I certainly felt like we had not really discussed the heart of the matter, the inappropriateness of social Darwinism and continued impact of eugenic ideas that repackage racism in a pseudo-scientific wrapper.
January 26, 2020
Το βιβλίο είναι αυτό που λέει. Η εξέλιξη της ιδέας του ρατσισμού. Πως και γιατί υπάρχει αλλά και γιατί θα συνεχίσει να υπάρχει για πάντα. Αριστουργηματική γραφή.
June 23, 2007
This book starts with the beginning process and publication of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. It takes the reader on a colorful and insightful ride of the distortion and abuse of the Evolution of Man that was used to justify racism with "scientific evidence".
July 27, 2011
:P. I really wasn't sure AT ALL what the author's point was
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews