A history of evolution by Carroll Lane Fenton
QR code
"A history of evolution by Carroll Lane Fenton" is a concise historical account of science written in the early 20th century. It surveys the development of the idea of organic evolution—what it is, how it works, and how people came to accept it—moving from ancient speculation to modern scientific methods. The book opens with Greek nature-philosophers (Thales, Anaximander, Empedocles, Aristotle, Epicurus, Lucretius), then follows the thread through early Christian thinkers (notably Augustine),
medieval Arabic scholarship, and the Renaissance and Enlightenment philosophers (Bacon, Descartes, Leibnitz, Kant) who argued for natural causes. It contrasts fanciful “speculative” writers with the “great naturalists”: Linnaeus’s classification, Buffon’s variability and environment, Erasmus Darwin’s transformist hints, and Lamarck’s use–disuse and branching descent, with support from St.-Hilaire, Goethe, and Treviranus. The core narrative centers on Charles Darwin’s method and synthesis—variation, the struggle for existence, and natural selection—his evidence, the controversy, and Huxley’s public defense. Post-Darwin, it reviews refinements and excesses, then highlights de Vries’s mutation theory and shows how selection and mutation can both operate, closing with the rise of genetics and experimental breeding, alongside ongoing evidence from paleontology, anatomy, and embryology, to affirm evolution as a well-established, continually investigated fact. (This is an automatically generated summary.)
Download for free
For your e-reader or reading app — Kindle, Kobo, Apple Books, Calibre etc.
Kindle → Use Send-to-Kindle
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Upload it on the Amazon site your Kindle is registered with: amazon.com/sendtokindle for the US, amazon.co.uk/sendtokindle for the UK etc.
- It appears on your Kindle and in the Kindle app
Kobo, Nook etc. → Transfer via USB
- Download the EPUB3 file on your computer
- Connect your e-reader by USB and tap "Connect" on its screen
- Drag the file onto the e-reader drive
Phone, Tablet or Computer → Online or Reading App
Easiest: read online in your browser. Nothing to install.
Or use a reading app:
- Find and install one you like, for example Apple Books, ReadEra or Thorium Reader
- Download the EPUB3 file above
- Open it in the app
More help: iPhone / iPad · Android · Computer
Other formats & older devices
There may be more files related to this item.
About this eBook
| Author | Fenton, Carroll Lane, 1900-1969 |
|---|---|
| Editor | Haldeman-Julius, E. (Emanuel), 1888-1951 |
| Title | A history of evolution |
| Original Publication | Girard: Haldeman-Julius Company, 1922. |
| Series Title | Ten cent pocket series no. 321 |
| Series Title | Little blue book no. 321 |
| Credits | Carol Brown, Tim Miller and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive) |
| Reading Level | Reading ease score: 45.4 (College-level). Difficult to read. |
| Language | English |
| LoC Class | QH: Science: Natural history |
| Subject | Evolution -- History |
| Category | Text |
| eBook-No. | 76278 |
| ISBN (HTML) | 979-8-238-76278-4 |
| Release Date | Jun 12, 2025 |
| Copyright | Public domain in the USA. |
| Downloads | 474 downloads in the last 30 days. |
Project Gutenberg eBooks are always free!