When reviewing The Evolution Wars by the same editor (Ruse, 2000) (RR 2001/163) I mentioned my surprise at finding that Darwin's ideas were still part of the Controversies in Science series, but in fact, according to the chapter on Creationism here, over 40 percent of polled Americans disbelieve in evolution. Flat-earthers have more or less disappeared, but the creationists still cling ever more desperately to their Mosaic ideal, in the face of ever-increasing accumulation of scientific evidence. There have been encyclopedic attempts at Arguing for Evolution (Cotner and Moore, 2011) (RR 2012/121). We have even reviewed a book-length bibliography on the topic (Hayward, 1998) (RR 1998/307), but to no avail. There is no arguing on matters of faith. If someone says “This isn't so because I refuse to believe it” no amount of scientific argument will help. When Joshua Slocum made the first single-handed voyage round the world, he arrived in South Africa and was introduced to President Kruger who said firmly “You can't be sailing round the world, because it isn't round. You must be sailing across it”. President Kruger's descendants are still with us today, running chunks of the American educational system.
The Origin of Species caused considerable controversy when first published 150 years ago, but so clearly made sense that it quite soon became scientific orthodoxy. Darwin actually wrote before Mendel's studies of genetics had been rediscovered and shown to provide a mechanism for natural selection. Since then virtually all developments in the life sciences have supported, expanded, modified and developed Darwin's original theory. Darwin is one of the key figures in the history of science, so there is an enormous literature relating to him and to his ideas. Cambridge University Press have, indeed, already published a Cambridge Companion to Darwin (Hodge and Radick, 2003) which our reviewer recommended as “the first port of call for anyone with an interest in Darwin” (RR 2004/30). We have also recommended a two-volume encyclopedia of All Things Darwin (Armstrong, 2007) as “reasonably-priced and of value both to the Darwin enthusiast as well as to those keen to learn more … ” (RR 2008/271), among innumerable other texts both specifically on Darwin and more generally on evolution. The editor of this book is, himself, an indefatigable Darwinist – his entries in the bibliography take up a whole column.
Although this is called an encyclopedia, I would prefer to call it a handbook. It consists of 63 lengthy signed essays on the history of the idea of evolution, Darwin's life and works, and the spread of Darwinian ideas in different countries – he finally received official commendation in China in 1959 with a “Meeting in Commemoration of Great Figures of World Culture” celebrating the 150th anniversary of Darwin's birth and the 200th of Robert Burns apparently! Other chapters discuss the relationship of Darwinism with various religions and philosophical movements, and with modern scientific developments. I was disappointed that the religions discussed all fall into the Mosaic tradition – Catholicism, Judaism, Islam etc. The Hindu/Buddhist tradition takes such a different approach to the position of man in the living world that a comparative study might have been of interest. The target readership of the book is clearly the historian of science rather than the scientist. Even the chapters on molecular biology or on evolutionary palaeontology should not prove too taxing for the well-educated general reader. Unlike an encyclopedia the essays are arranged in broad subject order of the historical development and spread of Darwin's ideas, rather than in alphabetical order. The majority of the contributors are American academics, and the spelling sensibly uses American English forms throughout.
There are black-and-white photographs scattered through the book, many of them pictures of earnest Victorian gentlemen with massive side-whiskers, plus a strange assortment of colour pictures – people, places, flowers, finches, old book illustrations, more recent scientists (mostly without side-whiskers) and art reproductions of war-time dazzle painting. The 34-page bibliography appears to consist mainly of the cumulated references to print sources scattered through the book. The literature on Darwinism and on evolution is so enormous that a full bibliography would be impossible, but a general guide to further reading might have been more useful, as might a mention of helpful websites. There are, of course, hundreds of these, many run by die-hard creationists, but I would personally have recommended Darwin Online (http://darwin-online.org.uk/) as a useful source for anyone wishing to follow up the main trends of this book. There is a satisfactory index at the back, which helps make up for any oddities in the subject arrangement.
I have scanned through the whole of this book, and have thoroughly read quite a lot of it. I have defined a “handbook” before, as a book which contains the equivalent of the seminar reading for a one-year master's degree course. I don't know of any master's degree course purely on Darwinism, but any course on the history of science will find this a useful resource. I will certainly continue ploughing through it with pleasure. It is not an encyclopedia, and I would not recommend it for quick-reference purposes, but as a handbook it is excellent. Libraries that already have the Cambridge Companion and other similar texts may feel that they are adequately stocked on the topic of Darwin's life and work, but, if not, I would warmly recommend this for acquisition.
