Talk:1860 Oxford evolution debate

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A summary of this article appears in Reaction to Darwin's theory.

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A fact from 1860 Oxford evolution debate appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know? column on 18 February 2008.

[edit] Alfred Newton

The article as it stands is far too revisionist, and relies too much on Lucas (a protagonist of Wilberforce) and Brooke. They do not consider the evidence of the letters of Alfred Newton, a careful and scrupulous man who was on the committee for the 1860 BA Meeting. Newton's biography by Wollaston is an essential source. Also, Thomson gives no refs at all; two excellent Huxley biographers have underestimated the significance of Newton's letters: Desmond (in Huxley) mentions Newton, but only tangentially; Bibby (who produced a PhD and several biographies of Huxley) seems to have omitted Newton entirely (I have not read the PhD dissertation). Quite extraordinary. Here's the ref:

Wollaston AFR 1921. Life of Alfred Newton: late Professor of Comparative Anatomy, Cambridge University 1866-1907, with a Preface by Sir Archibald Geikie OM. Dutton, NY. Macdonald-ross (talk) 16:39, 20 April 2008 (UTC)

Also, the following reviews all except Newton, and still concludes the traditional account is broadly substantiated:

Jenson, J. Vernon 1991. Thomas Henry Huxley: communicating for science. U. of Delaware Press, Newark. Chapter 3 is an excellent survey, and its notes gives references to all the eyewitness accounts except Newton. The great majority of these accounts do accord with the traditional version.

I have therefore made some changes in the article. Macdonald-ross (talk) 09:15, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] J.D. Hooker

The main evidence for Hooker's effectiveness is Hooker himself. Others noted that Hooker had joined the Darwin supporters, but as to the overall effectiveness of his intervention, that's moot. Macdonald-ross (talk) 14:46, 22 April 2008 (UTC)