Darwin Mythology

Introduction: Myths and Darwin Kostas Kampourakis; 1. That myths are simple falsehoods John Heilbron; 2. That most European naturalists before Darwin did not think that species change was possible Pietro Corsi; 3. That Charles Darwin was not directly influenced by the evolutionary views of his grandfather Erasmus Patricia Fara; 4. That Darwin always rejected the argument from design in nature and developed his own theory to replace it Michael Ruse; 5. That Darwin converted to evolutionary theory during his historic Galápagos Islands visit Frank Sulloway; 6. That Darwin's Galápagos finches inspired his most important evolutionary insights Frank Sulloway; 7. That Darwin was a recluse, and a theoretician rather than a practical scientist Alison Pearn; 8. That Darwin rejected Lamarck's ideas of use and disuse and of the inheritance of acquired traits Richard W. Burkhardt; 9. That Darwin's theory was essentially complete once he came up with the idea of natural selection Alan C. Love; 10. That Darwin delayed the publication of his theory for 20 years, being afraid of the reactions it would cause John van Wyhe; 11. That Wallace's and Darwin's theories were the same, and that Darwin did not reveal Wallace's 1858 letter and theory until he ensured his own priority Michael Ruse; 12. That Huxley was Darwin's bulldog and accepted all aspects of his theory Peter Bowler; 13. That Huxley defeated Wilberforce, and ridiculed his obscurantism, in the 1860 Oxford debate John Brooke; 14. That Darwin's critics such as Owen were prejudiced and had no scientific arguments Nicolaas Rupke; 15. That natural selection can also be accurately described as the survival of the fittest David Depew; 16. That Darwin banished teleology from biology James Lennox; 17. That Darwin's success depended on undermining 'Aristotelian essentialism' James Lennox; 18. That Darwin's theory would have become more widely accepted immediately had he read Mendel's 1866 paper Gregory Radick; 19. That Darwin faced a conspiracy of silence in Lamarck's country Liv Grjebine; 20. That Hitler endorsed and was influenced by Darwin's theory Robert Richards; 21. That sexual selection was Darwin's afterthought to natural selection Kimberly Hamlin; 22. That Darwin's hatred of slavery reflected his beliefs in racial equality Erik Peterson; 23. That the discovery of Australopithecus in 1925 belatedly confirmed Darwin's 1871 scientific prediction of African human origins Emily Kern; 24. That Darwin's theory brought an instant and immediate revolution in the life sciences Shruti Santosh and Anya Plutynski; Conclusion: What inferences about science can we draw from Charles Darwin's life and work Kostas Kampourakis.