Ideology and evolution in nineteenth century Britain : embryos, monsters, and racial and gendered others in the making of evolutionary theory and culture / Evelleen Richards.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richards, Evelleen, author.

Series:

Collected studies ; CS1089.

Variorum collected studies ; CS1089

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Evolution (Biology)--Social aspects--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Evolution (Biology).

Evolution (Biology)--Political aspects--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Feminism and science--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Feminism and science.

Anti-feminism--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Anti-feminism.

Racism in anthropology--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Racism in anthropology.

Evolution (Biology)--Social aspects.

History.

Great Britain.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xii, 343 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm.

Place of Publication:

Abingdon, Oxon ; New York : Routledge, 2021.

Summary:

"Written over several decades and collected together for the first time, these richly detailed contextual studies by a leading historian of science examine the diverse ways in which cultural values and political and professional considerations impinged upon the construction, acceptance and applications of nineteenth century evolutionary theory. They include a number of interrelated analyses of the highly politicised roles of embryos and monsters in pre- and post- Darwinian evolutionary theorizing, including Darwin's; several studies of the intersection of Darwinian science and its practitioners with issues of gender, race and sexuality, featuring a pioneering contextual analysis of Darwin's theory of sexual selection; and explorations of responses to Darwinian science by notable Victorian women intellectuals, including the crusading anti-feminist and ardent Darwinian, Eliza Lynn Linton, the feminist and leading anti-vivisectionist Frances Power Cobbe, and Annie Besant, the bible-bashing, birth-control advocate who confronted Darwin's opposition to contraception at the notorious Knowlton Trial"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Part I. Romantic embryos, radical monsters, and racial others in evolutionary theorising

"Metaphorical mystifications": the romantic gestation of nature in British biology

A question of property rights: Richard Owen's evolutionism reassessed

The "moral anatomy" of Robert Knox: the interplay between biological and social thought in Victorian scientific naturalism

A political anatomy of monsters, hopeful and otherwise: teratogeny, transcendentalism, and evolutionary theorising

Part II. Darwinian science, good wives, the "shrieking sisterhood", suffering animals, and radical birth control: Darwin and the descent of woman

Huxley and woman's place in science: the "woman question" and the control of Victorian anthropology

Redrawing the boundaries: Darwinian science and Victorian women intellectuals

"The greatest of all possible evils to mankind": Annie Besant vs. Darwin at the Knowlton trial and beyond.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Richards, Evelleen, Ideology and evolution in nineteenth century Britain

ISBN:

9781138607712

1138607711

OCLC:

1138489565