Publication
Title
Edinburgh and the birth of British evolutionism: a peek behind a veil of anonymity
Author
Abstract
Erasmus Darwin's evolutionary verses were isolated and ephemeral philosophical speculations. The real and academic birth of British evolutionism took place a couple of decades later in Edinburgh. It is probably no coincidence that the first fruits of this evolutionary theorizing were published during the approximately 2 years (18251827) that Erasmus's illustrious grandson Charles studied there: His evolutionary thinking was almost certainly more inspired by the first wave of British evolutionary theorizing than he later acknowledged or maybe even remembered. Unfortunately, we still dont know with certainty the identity of the authors of some of the key manifestations of this theorizing. Our identification, with the help of modern author verification software, of the authors of two of these anonymous evolutionary articles, published in 1826 and 1827, confirms that Darwin's geology professor Robert Jameson played a pivotal role in it.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Bioscience / American Institute of Biological Sciences. - Washington, D.C.
Publication
Washington, D.C. : 2018
ISSN
0006-3568
DOI
10.1093/BIOSCI/BIY049
Volume/pages
68 :8 (2018) , p. 585-592
ISI
000440982400007
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 19.07.2018
Last edited 09.10.2023
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