In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

[ 85 ] fifteen v฀ Epilogue oCCasionaLLy a stuDent from a fundamentalist background will come up to me after an evolution class and say, “Did you know that Darwin recanted his theory before he died?” Or an ad for a creationist lecture will say something about a “deathbed conversion” of Darwin. These apocryphal stories represent wishful thinking on the part of the anti-evolutionists, but they do have an interesting history. This myth can be traced to a British evangelist called Lady Hope, who addressed a religious meeting in Boston in 1915 or 1916. She claimed to have visited Darwin near the time of his death and found him reading the bible and singing hymns. These stories proliferated in newspapers around the world, to the extent that Darwin’s daughter Henrietta, then Mrs. Litchfield, issued a statement to the Christian that the paper published “in the interest of truth” on 23 February 1922. Henrietta, who was present at Darwin’s death, stated that “he never recanted any of his scientific views . . . and the whole story has no foundation whatever.” Francis, who was also at his father’s bedside, denied that a Lady Hope ever visited Down. See Atkins (1974), the two papers by Sloan (1960, 1965), and the book by James Moore (1994) for an exposition of this fraud. The publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species in 1859 created a paradigm shift from creation to evolution. Dar- [ 86 ] win showed that humans are part of nature, not above it, and that all animal life, including human, is related by descent from a common ancestor. His mechanism of evolution via natural selection is a powerful creative force that provided an explanation for the diversity of life. This dramatic change in world view from supernaturalism to methodological naturalism has allowed staggering scientific advances in the past 150 years which transcend science and permanently impact on the human psyche. For me personally, Darwin’s name evokes a stream of wonderful memories, such as being the sole visitor to Down House one lovely summer’s day or climbing over volcanic rocks as I led a tour through the Galápagos Islands. Some of the happiest days of my life were spent in his namesake city, Darwin, Australia—that most beautiful, exotic, diverse, and friendly of tropical cities where I did nurseryfish field research on the crocodile-rich Adelaide River. The City of Darwin is also the home of Charles Darwin University, a fitting tribute to one of the most influential scientists who ever lived. The late Theodosius Dobzhansky, eminent geneticist and major contributor to the modern synthesis of genetics and evolution, famously wrote: “Nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” That light was first lit in England, some two centuries ago, by an extraordinary man we now refer to simply as “Darwin.” ...

Share