Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation and Other Evolutionary Writings

Originally published anonymously in 1844, Vestiges proved to be as controversial as its author expected. Integrating research in the burgeoning sciences of anthropology, geology, astronomy, biology, economics, and chemistry, it was the first attempt to connect the natural sciences to a history of creation. The author, whose identity was not revealed until 1884, was Robert Chambers, a leading Scottish writer and publisher. Vestiges reached a huge popular audience and was widely read by the social and intellectual elite. It sparked debate about natural law, setting the stage for the controversy over Darwin's Origin. In response to the surrounding debate and criticism, Chambers published Explanations: A Sequel, in which he offered a reasoned defense of his ideas about natural law, castigating what he saw as the narrowness of specialist science.

With a new introduction by James Secord, a bibliography of reviews, and a new index, this volume adds to Vestiges and Explanations Chambers's earliest works on cosmology, an essay on Darwin, and an autobiographical essay, raising important issues about the changing meanings of popular science and religion and the rise of secular ideologies in Western culture.

Customer Reviews:

A true science time travel

By Sergio A. Salazar Lozano - August 11, 2003

This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read this year. It's a true time travel through pre "Darwin-Wallace" natural history, and even more, since it deals with theories as the Nebular Hypothesis. This was, at his time, an all best-seller, specially if you consider it was a science book and not a novel. Robert Chambers style is exquisite, it certainly was a pleasure reading this book, and as in all books from certain epoch, this one is no exception, you can clearly read between the lines and learn a lot about what victorian society believed and what prejudices did they had. Delightful, but if you don't enjoy classics, please dont' even try this one, this is only for classic lovers.

ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PRE-DARWINIAN EVOLUTION WORKS

By Steven H. Propp - November 12, 2009

Robert Chambers (1802-1871) was a Scottish writer who wrote this work anonymously; its views---while not yet espousing "evolution" as such---were clearly leading in that direction, and this 1844 work received (and thus deflected) much of the criticism that would have otherwise have gone to Darwin's "Origin of Species."

Chambers notes that "(T)here is not the least appearance of an intention in (the Bible) to give philosophically exact views of nature." Noting the progressive development evident in the fossil record, he asserts that the notion that the Creator "interfere personally and specially on every occasion when a new shell-fish or reptile was to be ushered into existence" was "too ridiculous to be for a moment entertained."

He suggests, "What is to hinder our supposing that the organic creation is also a result of natural laws, which are in like manner an expression of his will?" He argues that "I take existing natural means, and shew them to have been... read more