Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution changed the way we think about our place in the world, although it took some time for its full implications to sink in. In this talk, Peter Bowler argues that at first it was widely assumed that humanity must be the goal of evolutionary progress. But Darwin’s theory of natural selection suggests that the ‘tree of life’ has many diverging branches and hence no predetermined endpoint. Humanity’s position in the world now seemed much less secure, although it took several decades for this unsettling prospect to be recognised.

His book, Progress Unchained: Ideas of Evolution, Human History and the Future will be published by Cambridge University Press in March 2021.

This talk is to mark Darwin Day, a celebration to commemorate the birthday of Charles Darwin on 12th February 1809.

Speaker: Professor Peter Bowler FBA, Emeritus Professor of the History of Science, Queens University Belfast

Image: The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin.

Transcript: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/podcasts/10-minute-talks-charles-darwin-ideas-evolution/