STS.009

Evolution and Society

Undergraduate · Historical course

Spring 2012

This course provides a broad conceptual and historical introduction to scientific theories of evolution and their place in the wider culture. It embraces historical, scientific and anthropological/cultural perspectives grounded in relevant developments in the biological sciences since 1800 that are largely responsible for the development of the modern theory of evolution by natural selection. Students read key texts, analyze key debates (e.g. Darwinian debates in the 19th century, and the creation controversies in the 20th century) and give class presentations.

Readings

There are huge primary and secondary literatures on evolution and society. Required reading will be kept to an acceptable level by combining the use of a single survey textbook with short extracts from relevant (mainly primary) sources.
Listed reading
Course textbook:
Listed reading
[Bowler] = Bowler, Peter J. Evolution: The History of An Idea . 25th Anniversary ed. University of California Press, 2009. ISBN: 9780520261280.
Listed reading
Larson, Edward J. Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory . Modern Library, 2004. ISBN: 9780679642886.
Listed reading
Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwin’s God: A Scientist’s Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution . HarperCollins, 1999. ISBN: 9780060175931.
Listed reading
SES #: 2 · TOPICS: The Nature and Scope of the Historical Sciences · READINGS: Chapter 1 in [Bowler].
Reading assignment
Chapter 2 in [Bowler].
Listed reading
Paley, William. Chapters 1 and 2 in Natural Theology . Oxford University Press, 2006. ISBN: 9780192805843.
Listed reading
Chapter 2 in [Bowler]. pp. 35–8.
Listed reading
Chapter 3 in [Bowler]. pp. 57–62.
Listed reading
Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 108–14.
Listed reading
Larson, Edward J. Chapter 1 in Bursting the Limits of Time . University Of Chicago Press, 2007, pp. 3–26. ISBN: 9780226731131. [Preview with Google Books ] ↗
Required
Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 115–34.
Required
Lyell, Charles. “Principles of Geology.” In The Victorian Age: An Anthology of Sources and Documents . Edited by Josephine M. Guy. Penguin Classics, 1998. ISBN: 9780140435283.
Required
Chapter 4 in [Bowler]. pp. 134–40.
Required
Chapter 5 in [Bowler]. pp. 141–55.
Required
Darwin, Charles. Voyage of the Beagle . Penguin Classics, 1989, pp. 381–4, and 398–403. ISBN: 9780140432688.
Required
9 · The Path to The Origin of Species
Required
Chapter 5 in [Bowler]. pp. 155–76.
Required
Darwin, Charles. “Recapitulation and Conclusion.” Chapter 14 in Origin of Species . Empire Books, 2011. ISBN: 9781619491304. Available online at: talkorigins.org . ↗
Required
Chapter 6 in [Bowler]. pp. 177–223.
Required
Chapter 8 in [Bowler]. pp. 274–324.
Required
Huxley, Thomas. Evolution and Ethics . Kessinger Publishing, 2004. ISBN: 9781419118746. [Preview with Google Books ]. Available online at: Clark University: Evolution and Ethics . ↗
Required
Galton, Francis. “Hereditary Talent and Character.” Macmillan’s Magazine 12 (1865): 157–66, and 318–27. Available online at: Galton.org ↗
Required
15 · The “Eclipse of Darwinism” in Biology Around 1900 · Chapter 7 in [Bowler]. pp. 224–60.
Required
16 · The “Eclipse of Darwinism” in the Social Sciences After 1900
Required
Boas, Franz. “Human Faculty as Determined by Race” and “Psychological Problems in Anthropology.” A Franz Boas Reader: The Shaping of American Anthropology . Edited by George W. Stocking. University Of Chicago Press, 1989, pp. 219–21, and 243–54. ISBN: 9780226062433. [Preview with Google Books ] ↗
Required
Durkheim, Emile. “What is a Social Fact?” In Rules of Sociological Method: And Selected Texts on Sociology and Its Method . Edited by S. Lukes. Free Press, 1982, pp. 50–9. ISBN: 9780029079300.
Required
Larson, Edward J. Chapter 9 in Evolution: The Remarkable History of a Scientific Theory . Modern Library, 2006, pp. 199–218. ISBN: 9780812968491.
Required
Scopes Trial, Darrow cross-examines Bryan; online at: http://www.beliefnet.com/news/science-religion/1999/12/clarence-darrows-examination-of-william-jennings-bryan-at-the-1925-scopes-trial.aspx ↗
Required
18 · Movie: Inherit the Wind
Required
19 · Darwinism, Mendelism and the Birth of the “Modern Synthesis” · Chapter 9 in [Bowler]. pp. 325–46.
Required
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 347–55.
Required
Landau, Misia. “ Human Evolution as Narrative.” (PDF) American Scientist 72 (1984): 262–8. ↗
Required
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 353–66.
Required
Wilson, E. O. “What is Sociobiology?” Sociobiology and Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Critique and Defense (1978): 1–12. Available online at: Pfeiffer University . ↗
Required
Chapter 10 in [Bowler]. pp. 375–81.
Required
McLean versus Arkansas Board of Education (1982), available on-line at: talkorigins.org . ↗
Required
Kitzmiller versus Dover Area School District, Decision of the Court, 31 December 2005; available on-line at: talkorigins.org . ↗
Required
Miller, Kenneth R. Finding Darwin’s God . Harper Perennial, 2007. ISBN: 9780061233500.
Required
Cosmides, Leda, and John Tooby. “Evolutionary Psychology: A Primer.” 1997. Available online at: UC Santa Barbara: Center for Evolutionary Psychology . ↗
Required
25 · Evolutionary Humanism, from Julian Huxley to E.O. Wilson · Ira Flatow interview with E. O. Wilson about his book, The Creation, on NPR (8th September 2006), available on-line at: npr.org . ↗
Required

Sources

Course catalogue ↗Historical OpenCourseWare
MIT OCW readings ↗
MIT OCW syllabus ↗
Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.