Summary and Analysis: Evolution and Ethics and Other Essays

Thomas Henry Huxley was a prominent member of the scientific community and an early advocate of evolutionism. His work and public debates served to explore this idea and to usher in widespread acceptance, forming the foundation of our current understanding of biology and the place of man in the cosmos. Evolution and Ethics is a work which highlights the ethical and theological implications of the theory of evolution. This work is a compilation by Huxley of his grandest and most sweeping work, that which had the greatest social impact. He was a well respected man, highly visible to the public, and a key figure in the establishment of scientific professionalism. His work reflects the movement to scientific materialism which supplanted the religious perspective as the dominant viewpoint among European thinkers. The narration of the full text of Evolution and Ethics is preceded by a summary which includes a biography of the author, an overview and a synopsis of the work. Also included are