Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature (1863) has been considered the most important of
Thomas Huxley’s Darwinian writings. Despite warnings from friends that publishing an argument in support of evolution could ruin his career, it in fact did the opposite. This book did much to facilitate the general acceptance of Darwinism in Huxley’s day. Huxley demonstrates that humans are a part of the natural order of things and not radically separate from other animals. Anyone interested in the history of the Darwinian revolution or in early anthropology can benefit by reading this book.
Circa l’autore
Thomas H. Huxley was born in 1825 in the English country village of Ealing. His father was a schoolteacher, but Huxley received little regular schooling and was largely self-taught. Often called an atheist or a materialist, Huxley later coined the term “agnostic” to describe his own philosophical system of belief after finding that none of the various other “isms” properly described his views.