2008/03/14

Fern Elsdon-Baker analyses heredity theory in Darwin's thought

Fern Elsdon-Baker, lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Durham and member of the British Society for the History of Science, delivered a lecture in Bilbao on 11 March this year. It was on "Darwinism vs. Wallacism: 'pure Darwinism' defended by Wallace," and was part of the series "Darwin and Wallace, 150 years since the discovery of evolution," organised by CIC bioGUNE in conjunction with the British Council, the BBVA Foundation and the Biophysics Unit of the EHU/UPV-University of the Basque Country.

During her lecture, Elsdon-Baker explained that the historical interpretation of the development of evolutionary theories had tended, until recently, to endorse various inaccuracies regarding what the "Darwinism" of Darwin actually means. In her view, "in no other subject has this been so evident as in the interpretation made of Darwin's heredity theory (pangenesis) after his death." The researcher stressed the role played by Wallace in promoting his own version of "pure Darwinism" in the period that elapsed between the death of Darwin in 1882 and his own in 1914; she also examined the differences between the Darwinism of Darwin and the interpretation Wallace himself made of it when putting forward a theory recognised on occasions under the name of Wallacism.

Fern Elsdon-Baker is currently visiting researcher attached to the Department of the History and Philosophy of Science of the University of Leeds and lecturer in the History of Science at the University of Durham. She is also a member of the Council and Committee of Programmes of the British Society for the History of Science, and recorder of the section on the History of Science of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.