In an age of desperately low wages for many working people, Charles Darwin pushed his publisher hard to cut the selling price of Origin of Species.
Darwin had been moved by letters from workers who could not afford the book or who needed to pool their money to buy and share a single copy between several people.
Shrugging off warnings from his publisher about reduced royalties from sales, Darwin triumphed when the price of the sixth edition of the famous book was halved – the publisher saved part of the cost by printing the work in a smaller font.
Many people believed that Darwin’s proposed descent of humans from apes was an attack on society’s moral foundations.
The idea that species evolve had become mainstream science by the time of the sixth edition. The concept of natural selection was less accepted.
Charles Darwin’s grandfather, Erasmus Darwin, had earlier made some eye-catching contributions to evolutionary theory, including the idea that all life has a common origin.
Author of this page: The Doc
Images of scientists digitally enhanced and colorized by this website.
© All rights reserved.
Dear Sir/Madam
Great website with lots of food for thought.
Just a comment on ‘The 10 Scientific Theories that have been Debunked’ . Theories are the highest form of proof. They are not hunches or uncertainties as is often used by the laity in everyday speech or used as a synonym. Hypothesis is the first step for investigation and experimentation. This happens on a regular basis in science. If other scientists/researches across the world find enough evidence to support the hypothesis only then does it become a theory albeit many theories are still been tested.
Numerous hypothesis are regularly debunked. The heading should be ‘The 10 Scientific Hypothesis that have been Debunked’
I trust I have my facts correct
Best regards
Andre Hermanus