The Meaning of Evolution - Robert Richards

Charles Darwin, has, in death, become somewhat a victim of his own success. So argues Robert Richards in The Meaning of Evolution. Because of the central role that evolutionary thinking has played in the development of the life sciences over the past one hundred and fifty years, Richards tells us that too many scholars retroactively impose latter-day understandings onto Darwin's thinking on evolution. Authorities no less than Gould have read Darwin's work in a neo-Darwinian light; thus marginalizing the historicity of Darwin's scientific thinking and his situatedness within a developing scientific community.

While the evolutionary thinking of Darwin may strike us as a bolt of lightning from the sky, Richards shows us the critical import of properly placing Darwin within his own time. Acknowledging the great man's place within a scientific community, among such laudable peers as Huxley, Owen and Hooker, the reader is given Charles Darwin as a man growing and learning and responding to itself an evolving corpus of scientific thought. Understanding the formative role of this corpus and these other men is crucial because it allows the reader to properly place Darwin's thinking; coloring and fleshing out his insights.

Of course, this also means acknowledging where Darwin went wrong. Though Richards clearly holds the resident of Down House in the highest regard (as is due to him), he does not shy away from highlighting Darwin's mistakes and the shortcomings in his theories. In this slim work Richards has turned the nifty trick of presenting Darwin's thinking with nuance and critique while acknowledging the crucial role that even Darwin's misguided understandings played in the formation of his greatest works. This is no mean feet. Anyone interested in better understanding the thoughts of this titanic figure of Western thought, is well served by Richards work.