Volume XX, No. X

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Volume XX, No. X

3

The International Scientific Series and the Communication of Darwinism[(]

Bernard LIGHTMAN

York University, USA

Abstract:

In this paper I examine whether or not the International Scientific Series (ISS) disseminated Darwinian views of the relationship between science and religion throughout its existence as a unique experiment in publishing. Initially, the key players were Thomas Henry Huxley, John Tyndall, Herbert Spencer, and Edward Youmans, all evolutionary naturalists, and they shared a complex perspective on the relationship between science and religion. Although the ISS began as a publishing project devoted to the dissemination of evolutionary naturalism, I will argue that by the early 1880’s a new course had been set when the original founders of the series were no longer in control.

Key Words: Darwinism, Evolutionary Naturalism, International Scientific Series


Volume XX, No. X

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1. INTRODUCTION

Over three decades ago, historians gauged Darwin’s impact on the relationship between science and religion by pointing to the popularity of John William Draper’s History of the Conflict Between Religion and Science (1874). In his book, Draper, president of the medical school and professor of chemistry at New York University, insisted that science and religion were on a collision course that would profoundly affect the modern world.

2. METHODOLOGY

Before he wrote his History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion, Draper was involved in an important episode in the history of the relationship between evolution and Christianity. Draper gave a paper on Darwin and the intellectual development of Europe at the famous

2.1 Secondary Title

2.1.1 third-order subsection

It is important to recall that Draper’s book was number twelve of the International Scientific Series (ISS), an ambitious project initiated in 1871 to disseminate scientific knowledge to a global audience. Selling close to 20,000 copies, Draper’s History of the Conflict Between Science and Religion was among the most successful of the books published in the ISS. It went through twelve editions in English and was translated into French and German.[1]

Looking at Draper’s book as an integral part of the ISS raises an interesting question. Did Draper’s book encapsulate the aim of the entire ISS on the subject of the implications of evolution for understanding the true relationship between science and religion? To answer that question we would need to find out who the key players were in the creation of the ISS, examine their position vis a vis evolution and religion, and to determine whether or not their views were embedded in the books published in the series from beginning to end.

3. CONCLUSION

During the late 1870’s the active involvement of both King and Youmans in the ISS came to an end, resulting in a challenge to the authority of the British Committee. King became seriously ill, and sold his business in October of 1877. He died the following year. Youmans, whose health was also failing, was obliged to release the vital organizational work of the series to others. By 1880 he was no longer the driving force behind the ISS.[2] Charles Kegan Paul, who had been manager and publisher’s reader for several years at H. S. King and Company, purchased it from King.

REFERENCES

[1] Chau, A. Y., Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China (Redwood, 2006).

[2]Pomeranz, K., “Power, Gender, and Pluralism in the Cult of the Goddess of Tai Shan Theodore

[3]Huters”, in Roy Bin Wong and Pauline Yu (ed.), Culture & State in Chinese History: Conventions, Accommodations, and Critiques (Redwood, 1997).

[4]Lightman, B., 'The International Scientific Series and the Communication of Darwinism', Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4 (2010), 27-38.

[5]Ptolemy, The Geography, ed. and trans. E.L. Stevenson (New York, 1991).

[6]Legge, J. (trans.), The Chinese classics (3rd edn. 5 vols. Taipei, 2000-2001).

[7]Williams, C.M., ‘The political career of Henry Marten’ (unpublished D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 1954).


Style

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Reference Formatting

There are two alternative systems of inserting references--Traditional footnote system/Author-date system. You can only choose one or the other and stick to it.

In footnotes and bibliography if there are two authors, please use A and B; In edited books, when there are two editors, please use A and B; If there are more than 3 authors or editors, please use A, B, and C et al.

Traditional footnote system

The traditional method is that the first reference to a document or work should be punctuated, spelt out and capitalised as in the following examples: (It is usual to include ‘p.’ or ‘pp.’ if more than one page before page numbers)

Adam Yuet Chau, Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China (Redwood, 2006), p.59.

Kenneth Pomeranz, “Power, Gender, and Pluralism in the Cult of the Goddess of Tai Shan Theodore Huters”, in Roy Bin Wong and Pauline Yu (ed.), Culture & State in Chinese History: Conventions, Accommodations, and Critiques (Redwood, 1997), pp.182-206.

Bernard Lightman, 'The International Scientific Series and the Communication of Darwinism', Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4 (2010), 27-38, p. 30.

Ptolemy, The Geography, ed. and trans. E.L. Stevenson (New York, 1991), p. 20.

James Legge (trans.), The Chinese classics (3rd edn. 5 vols. Taipei, 2000-2001), vol. 2, p. 100.

C.M. Williams, ‘The political career of Henry Marten’ (unpublished D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 1954).

Wu Xiaoqun吴晓群, Miaofeng Mount: The Historical Changes of Civil Society of Beijing妙峰山:北京民间社会的历史变迁 (Beijing, 2005), p. 85.

Internet references: Websites: Cite author or webmaster/webmistress (if known), date created or last updated (if known), title of text, heading of page, full url, and date last accessed; eg:

Will Ham-Bevan (2014), 'Cambridge is a major player in the £1bn UK computer gaming industry', http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/cambridge-is-a-major-player-in-the-ps1bn-uk-computer-gaming-industry last accessed 28 July. 2014.

We require that you have full description of your sources in the bibliography (references), then the second and later references in the footnotes can be given in the appropriate abbreviated form:

Adam Yuet Chau, p.59.

Kenneth Pomeranz, “Power, Gender, and Pluralism in the Cult of the Goddess of Tai Shan Theodore Huters”, p. 190.

Bernard Lightman, 'The International Scientific Series and the Communication of Darwinism', p. 30.

Wu Xiaoqun, p. 85.

James Legge (trans.), vol. 2, p. 100.

Author-date system

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The normal form is ‘(Easterlin 2006, 463-82)’.

If the references are in the text variant can occur:

‘The traditional stress on objective conditions as the most and probably the only important determinant of subjective wellbeing in the economic academia has been challenged since economists such as Easterlin (2006, 463-82).’ If the author published two or more works in one year, these are labelled ‘2006a’ etc.

When explanatory notes are needed they must appear at the foot of the page, not in brackets in the text.

Bibliographical References (if ‘author date’ in text, better the same in here)

The bibliography at the end of the manuscript must include all material, primary and secondary, that has been cited in the footnotes or has substantially informed the dissertation.

Each item should be described as follows:

Chau, A. Y., Miraculous Response: Doing Popular Religion in Contemporary China (Redwood, 2006).

Chau, A.Y., 2006…

Pomeranz, K., “Power, Gender, and Pluralism in the Cult of the Goddess of Tai Shan Theodore Huters”, in Roy Bin Wong and Pauline Yu (ed.), Culture & State in Chinese History: Conventions, Accommodations, and Critiques (Redwood, 1997).

Lightman, B., 'The International Scientific Series and the Communication of Darwinism', Journal of Cambridge Studies, 4 (2010), 27-38.

Ptolemy, The Geography, ed. and trans. E.L. Stevenson (New York, 1991).

Legge, J. (trans.), The Chinese classics (3rd edn. 5 vols. Taipei, 2000-2001).

Williams, C.M., ‘The political career of Henry Marten’ (unpublished D.Phil. dissertation, University of Oxford, 1954).

Wu Xiaoqun吴晓群, Miaofeng Mount: The Historical Changes of Civil Society of Beijing妙峰山:北京民间社会的历史变迁 (Beijing, 2005).


[(]* This article is based on a paper first delivered at the conference “Darwin in Communication,” held at Peking University, August 26th-28th, 2010. The author is indebted to Professor Michael Collie for providing information on the International Scientific Series. The author would also like to express his appreciation to the University of Chicago Press for allowing him to draw on material from his Victorian Popularizers of Science from chapters 2 and 7, © 2007 by The Universtiy of Chicago. All rights reserved.

[1] Roy M. MacLeod, “Evolutionism, Internationalism and Commercial Enterprise in Science: The International Scientific Series 1871-1910”, in A. J. Meadows (ed.), Development of Science Publishing in Europe(Amsterdam, 1980), p. 74.

[2] Ibid., p. 75.