In Praise of Darwin: George Romanes and the Evolution of a Darwinian Believer - Softcover

J. David Pleins

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1623565944 ISBN 13: 9781623565947

Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic, 2014

Synopsis

George John Romanes, close friend and colleague of Darwin, remains a terribly misunderstood figure in the history of evolutionary science. Although his scientific contributions have been valued, his religious journey has been either neglected or misjudged. Typically scholars only acknowledge some of the work on theism he did at the very end of his life and usually blame his wife for doctoring the record with her pieties. His extensive poetry writing, much of it religious, has never been explored and his 'Memorial Poem' to Darwin has been completely overlooked. The recent discovery of the original typescript of the poem, lost for more than a century and reprinted in this book for the first time, allows us to enter the mind of a major Darwinian as we watch him struggle to put together faith and science on a positive basis.

The original typescript of the 'Memorial Poem' contains numerous corrections inserted by Romanes as well as several handwritten poems. The recovery of this unique poetic exploration is a major event for Darwin studies and Pleins is the first author to study it and draw out its full significance in the history of the religion/science debate. Pleins recounts Romanes's journey from belief to skepticism and back to faith as he arrives at a new understanding of the religious implications of Darwin's theory of evolution. Throughout, Romanes shows how it is possible for a Darwinian to reframe in creative ways the relation between faith and science.

Given that many today invoke Darwin to legitimate religious skepticism, the publication of this poem composed by one of the original Darwinians will spark new discussions regarding these questions.

About this title

Review:

This is a remarkable follow-up to the author's earlier work on Darwin's journey of faith, The Evolving God. Pleins has an exceptional sensitivity to the religious struggles of sincere seekers, especially scientists. Like Tennyson, he realizes that 'there lives more faith in honest doubt. . . than in half the creeds.' The journey into skepticism by some scientifically educated Christians was especially tormenting since it seemed to estrange them agonizingly from family members and friends. Instead of viewing the loss of faith as liberation from authoritarianism, many literate people, once they had been exposed to science and 'reason,' remained deeply tormented that they could no longer share the comforts of faith with the people they loved most. Darwin is a good example. George Romanes may be an even better one. We could hardly expect a more careful and scholarly treatment of Romanes's struggle than we have in Pleins's readable work. --John Haught, Professor Emeritus, Science and Religion, Georgetown University, USA

In this fascinating re-investigation of the life and thought of George Romanes, the author weaves together insights from Romanes' magisterial Memorial Poem with material arising from his interactions with his hero Charles Darwin, to generate a narrative that subverts any simplistic 'science versus religion' historiography. The text is often counter-intuitive, full of surprises, and should be read by all those interested in the impact that Darwinian ideas had on the religious convictions of his contemporaries. --Denis Alexander, Emeritus Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St Edmund's College, Cambridge, UK

Whilst Tennyson's poetic musings of Darwinian evolution in In Memoriam are now well-known enough to have passed into cliché ('Nature red in tooth and claw'), George Romanes' Charles Darwin: A Memorial Poem by contrast has faded into obscurity. Now, thanks to J. David Pleins' excellent new book, Romanes' poem can assume its rightfully central place in our assessment of the reception of Darwin's scientific theories and their impact on religious belief. A combination of the fortuitous discovery of the original typescript of Romanes' poem and meticulous historical scholarship, Pleins' book guides us through the poem as key to Romanes' remarkable scientific and religious thought. Detailed, nuanced and lively, the book breaks new ground in the study of Romanes and his relation to his mentor Darwin; it also contributes significantly to wider historical work on the inter-relations of science and religion in the nineteenth century, cutting through the tired metaphors of warfare and conflict towards a more subtle account of the intellectual negotiations of those, like Romanes, immersed in both modern science and modern religion. --Russell Re Manning, Lord Gifford Fellow in the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, UK

About the Author:

J. David Pleins is Professor of Religious Studies at Santa Clara University, USA. He is the author of The Evolving God (2013), When the Great Abyss Opened: Classic and Contemporary Readings of Noah's Flood (2003), and served as an associate editor for Doubleday's The Anchor Bible Dictionary, 6 volumes (1992).

About this edition

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1623565944
• ISBN 13: 9781623565947
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384