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This collection of 8 volumes brings together key works in the development of evolutionary theory from fundamentalists such as Philip Gosse to T H Huxley, whose passionate defence of evolution theory earned him the title of 'Darwin's Bulldog'. Between these positions are situated the works of Cuvier, Wallace, Buckland, Lyell and Owen, all of whom rejected Darwin's version of evolution to varying degrees. Each volume includes a new introduction by the editor, which provides a historical and intellectual background.
Volume I Georges Cuvier , Essay on the Theory of the Earth, 1813 A translation of the 'Discourse Praeliminaire' of the first edition of the 'Recherches sur les Ossemens Fossiles de Quadrupaedes' by Robert Kerr, edited by Professor Robert Jameson 0-415-28923-8 Based at the Parisian Museum of Natural History, Cuvier was able to compare the fossil bones he dug from the quarries of Montmartre with those of animals alive today. Guided by the principle of correlation, that all the parts of an animal must cohere, and by analogy, with living species, Cuvier boldly reconstructed extinct creatures from the incomplete skeletons he unearthed. This process is described in his Essay on the Theory of the Earth. Volume II and III William Buckland, Geology & Mineralogy, Considered with Reference to Natural Theology, Volumes I and II, 1836 0-415-28924-6 and 0-415-28925-4 Moving away from his earlier belief in a short, catastrophic history of the Earth, Buckland's Treatise envisages instead progressive change as the Earth gradually cooled as it was prepared for human occupation. Extinct creatures did not die out because they were poorly designed; God loved the dinosaurs and had adapted them to their various circumstances. Volume IV Philip Gosse, Omphalos, 1858 0-415-28926-2 Gosse argued that fossils are not really the remains of creatures which ever existed. God had created the world in six days, but had made it look like it was already ancient, complete with the remains of non-existent pre-historic life. Gosse's work was neither popular with Christians nor evolutionists. Volume V Charles Darwin , Origin of the Species, 1859 (1st edition) 0-415-28927-0 Origin of the Species caused an uproar when it was first published in 1859. Darwin's theory was that species had evolved from simpler organisms by natural selection acting upon the variability of populations. This view was directly opposed to the doctrine of special creation by God and angered the Church and Victorian public opinion. This volume is a facsimile of one of the original copies sent to the eminent geologist Leonard Horner. The volume includes sample pages from Darwin's original handwritten manuscript; the exclusive property of the Natural History Museum. Volume VI Richard Owen, Palaeontology, 1860 0-415-28928-9 Owen was the founder of the Natural History Museum, bringing the collections over from the British Museum. Although he was a supporter of evolutionary theory, he was reluctant to accept Darwin's version of evolution. This volume examines fossil evidence for change in species over time. Volume VII Thomas Henry Huxley, Man's Place in Nature, 1863 0-415-28929-7 Huxley was one of the first adherents to Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection and advanced its acceptance by scientists and the public. Man's Place in Nature was expl
