Darwin's Sacred Cause - How a Hatred of Slavery Shaped Darwin's Views on Human Evolution

Adrian Desmond. James Moore

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

2009

448 páginas

14h 56m

ISBN-13: 9780547055268

Based on a painstaking study of Darwin's private papers -- correspondence, notebooks, journals, ship logs, and even scribbled remarks in the margins of books and pamphlets he had read -- this compelling book endeavors to redeem and humanize the often misunderstood man. Critics uniformly praised Darwin's Sacred Cause, describing it as thoroughly researched, absorbing, and even "thrilling" (Independent). Only a few had misgivings: some critics noticed that the authors gloss over evidence of prejudice -- practically a hallmark of polite Victorian society -- in Darwin's writings, and others questioned the success of the authors in proving their claims. So was Darwin a benevolent humanitarian or an impartial scientist? Readers of this articulate and engrossing book will have to decide for themselves.