CHAPTER XXXII 
DARWINISM 
439. Charles Darwin. The question of the method of 
evolution continued to be debated, with no satisfactory solu- 
tion in sight, until 1859, 1 when Charles Darwin published 
the greatest book of the nineteenth century, and one of the 
greatest in the world's history, the Origin of Species. 2 
This book was the result of over 20 years of careful 
observation and thought. It consisted of the elaboration 
of two principal theories: (i) that evolution is the method 
of creation; (2) that natural selection is the method of 
evolution. 
440. Early Antagonism to Evolution. The conception 
that evolution (as distinguished from periodic, super- 
natural interventions of the Deity) is the method of 
creation was arrived at independently by Darwin, but was 
not new with him. As we have just seen, it was proposed 
by Lamarck. Greek philosophers 2,000 years previously 
had suggested the idea; but it had never won the general 
acceptance of the educated world, partly because it was 
feared to be anti-religious, partly because it was never 
substantiated by sufficiently convincing evidence, and 
partly because of the antagonism of a few men of great 
1 This date should be memorized. It is one of the most important in 
the whole history of human thought. 
J The full title of the book was, "The Origin of Species by Natural Selec- 
tion, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life." 
