Darwin et la science de l'évolution

by Patrick Tort

En 1859, dans L'Origine des espèces, le naturaliste anglais Charles Darwin expose publiquement sa théorie de la descendance modifiée des êtres vivants par le moyen de la sélection naturelle : les espèces ne sont pas fixes, mais varient et se transforment suivant la loi du triomphe des formes les plus adaptées. C'est une révolution : l'idée du Créateur s'effondre, et avec elle tout plan "providentiel" de la nature. L'Angleterre victorienne s'enflamme, pour ou contre. En 1871, avec La Filiation de l'Homme, Darwin inscrit l'Homme dans la série animale. Ce dernier venu possède un ancêtre commun avec les Singes de l'Ancien Monde, dont il a perfectionné les instincts sociaux et les facultés rationnelles en tirant un avantage social de comportements antisélectifs : l'éducation, le droit, les conduites solidaires et altruistes, la protection des faibles et des déshérités.Philosophe et épistémologue, Patrick Tort éclaire la vie et l'oeuvre du principal fondateur de la science de l'évolution, qui fut aussi un penseur de la paix, et un éminent généalogiste de la morale.

Genres: Science, Evolution, Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Biography

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 20, 2000

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography and history of both the man and his idea. This book details Darwin's time on the Beagle, his collecting of species and observations of geology in South America and the Pacific, and his collation of that research back in England.

I haven't read extensively on Darwin, but knew the basics of the Voyage of the Beagle, and his publication race with Alfred Russel Wallace. What I really appreciated about this book was the contextual information - Tort details the intellectual history of mid-19th century, other thinkers in different fields that helped Darwin formulate (e.g. Malthus), his critics, his promoters, and his acolytes that carried on the work. The book isn't shy about addressing where things went completely awry, like with eugenics or 'social darwinism', and how Darwin spoke out in his remaining years.

What makes this book so special is the marvelous way it is formatted. This Discoveries series, published in the US by Abrams, has long been a favorite for this reason - they include beautiful color plates, photographs, and other archival materials - letters, manuscripts, newspapers, cartoons, etc. Each of the Discoveries series also includes appendices of primary source material and generous bibliographies and notes sections. In this Darwin volume, there are illustrated excerpts from grandfather Erasmus Darwin's work, from Charles' own 'On the Origin of the Species', transcripts from the Scopes Trial of 1925, and a detailed chronology of his life.

[Akshay Pai · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is an attempt to fit a lot what Darwin had achieved and the way he achieved it into a summary. it's neither a biography nor a scientific account on the discoveries of Darwin. it lies somewhere in between those two and makes many topics dry and boring.

That being said, the book has beautiful imagery throughout and some of the topics like Darwin's voyage and his origin of species and natural selection concepts are explained in a nice way. This is the only reason I can give this book 3 star rating.

[Aziz LeAziz · Rating 3 out of 5]

انما يخشى الله من عباده العلماء