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Summary
Summary
A compelling portrait of a unique moment in American history when the ideas of Charles Darwin reshaped American notions about nature, religion, science and race
"A lively and informative history." - The New York Times Book Review
Throughout its history America has been torn in two by debates over ideals and beliefs. Randall Fuller takes us back to one of those turning points, in 1860, with the story of the influence of Charles Darwin's just-published On the Origin of Species on five American intellectuals, including Bronson Alcott, Henry David Thoreau, the child welfare reformer Charles Loring Brace, and the abolitionist Franklin Sanborn.
Each of these figures seized on the book's assertion of a common ancestry for all creatures as a powerful argument against slavery, one that helped provide scientific credibility to the cause of abolition. Darwin's depiction of constant struggle and endless competition described America on the brink of civil war. But some had difficulty aligning the new theory to their religious convictions and their faith in a higher power. Thoreau, perhaps the most profoundly affected all, absorbed Darwin's views into his mysterious final work on species migration and the interconnectedness of all living things.
Creating a rich tableau of nineteenth-century American intellectual culture, as well as providing a fascinating biography of perhaps the single most important idea of that time, The Book That Changed America is also an account of issues and concerns still with us today, including racism and the enduring conflict between science and religion.
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In this inventive work, which weaves two powerful events into a vibrant tapestry of antebellum intellectual life, Fuller (From Battlefields Rising), professor of English at the University of Tulsa, beautifully describes how the engagement by a group of Transcendentalists with Darwin's newly published On the Origin of Species deepened their commitment to the antislavery movement. Still reeling from abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry, Transcendentalists (and Brown supporters) Franklin Sanborn, Charles Loring Brace, Bronson Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau quickly devoured Darwin's book and recommended it to others. All people were biologically related, Darwin's work hinted, which Transcendentalists interpreted as a repudiation of the belief that "African-American slaves were a separate, inferior species." Fuller shares the Transcendentalists' knack for clearly presenting complex ideas. He nimbly traverses the details of the scientific debate between Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz and Asa Gray over the theories of polygenism and evolution. There's a glimpse of Louisa May Alcott, inspired by Darwin's book to write a daring story of interracial love. Elegant writing and an unusual approach to interpreting the time period make this a must-read for everyone interested in Civil War-era history. Illus. Agent: Marianne Merola, Brandt & Hochman Literary. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
As the Civil War was beginning, a single copy of Charles Darwin's earthshaking On the Origin of Species was disseminated among several major American intellectuals Harvard botanist Asa Gray, Charles Loring Brace (founder of the Children's Aid Society), Henry David Thoreau, and Bronson Alcott and his daughter Louisa. According to this account by Fuller, an expert in nineteenth-century American fiction, Darwin's book had an impact on America commensurate to the war itself. The first writing clearly influenced by Darwin was the essay Wild Apples, by Thoreau with an introduction by Ralph Waldo Emerson. In addition to impacting the transcendentalists, Origin forced a reexamination of more-conventional religion. Darwin's thesis that all humankind had a common ancestor excited the abolitionists and other civil rights activists, but not everybody agreed with Darwin Swiss-born scientist Louis Agassiz was a notable opponent. Although Fuller's emphasis on the transcendentalists, his specialty, excludes the bulk of social Darwinism and Origin's full later impact, he makes an important contribution to Darwin studies.--Levine, Mark Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
THE BOOK THAT CHANGED AMERICA: How Darwin's Theory of Evolution Ignited a Nation, by Randall Fuller. (Penguin, $18.) Fuller's lively account focuses on the responses of a group of New England intellectuals to Darwin's "On the Origin of Species." The book is perhaps most surprising on the subject of Thoreau, for whom Darwin's writings would prove influential. MANHATTAN BEACH, by Jennifer Egan. (Scribner, $17.) In a follow-up to her novel "A Visit From the Goon Squad," Egan tells the story of a Brooklyn Navy Yards worker during World War II. The Times critic Dwight Garner called it "an old-fashioned page turner, tweaked by this witty and sophisticated writer so that you sometimes feel she has retrofitted sleek new engines inside a craft owned for too long by James Jones and Herman Wouk." RETURN TO GLORY: The Story of Ford's Revival and Victory at the Toughest Race in the World, by Matthew DeBord. (Grove, $16.) Over 50 years ago, a Ford heir set out to win Le Mans, the dangerous race across France's backroads. In 2016, the company returned again to the high-stakes course; DeBord recounts the designers and drivers behind the renewed push, and tells the story of Ford's triumphs. THE ANSWERS, by Catherine Lacey. (Picador, $16.) To pay for her unconvetional physical therapy, a woman becomes part of an actor's latest project: to design the perfect partner, piece by piece. The woman serves as an "Emotional Girlfriend," agreeing to leave a toothbrush at his house, give him keys to her place, affirm his views and send him pithy texts. Molly Young, our reviewer, wrote that the story is "funny and eerie and idea-dense - a flavor combination that turns out to be addictive." MY LOVELY WIFE IN THE PSYCH WARD: A MEMOIR, by Mark Lukach. (Harper Wave/HarperCollins, $15.99.) Three years into their marriage, the author's wife suffers a psychotic breakdown, setting in motion a nightmarish cycle of major depressive states, psychosis and nearly round-the-clock care. Lukach's voice - unsparing and even ruthless, but grounded in love - helps the book vault past the stereotype of an illness memoir. UNDERGROUND FUGUE, by Margot Singer. (Melville House, $16.99.) In this debut novel, the lives of four Londoners become entwined amid the terrorist attacks of 2005. Esther is caring for her dying mother, and strikes up a friendship with her neighbors, an Iranian scientist and his son, Amir. But her paranoia about Amir threatens to derail not only their friendship but the families' futures.
Choice Review
This intriguing work explains how Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) and his evolutionary theory influenced American thought. The story focuses on Asa Gray, the father of American botany, and how he exposed New England's leading intellectuals to Darwin's ideas. Although a deeply religious man, Gray readily accepted Darwin's scientific views. Gray's cousin by marriage, social reformer Charles Loring Brace, brought Gray's copy of Darwin's work to a dinner party in Concord, Massachusetts, attended by such prominent thinkers as abolitionist Frank Sanborn, philosopher/educator Amos Bronson Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau. It was an opportune time (i.e., just before the Civil War) to have such a discussion. Antislavery forces embraced the idea "that all humans were biologically related," refuting "the idea that African American slaves were a separate, inferior species." There was not universal acceptance of Darwinism. Some were troubled by the materialism inherent in Origin and the idea "of constant struggle and endless competition." Fuller (English, Univ. of Tulsa) limits his discussion to New England intellectuals and does not consider the reaction to Darwin's theory in the South and West, where there was greater opposition. Nonetheless, this book has special appeal for social and intellectual historians. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; faculty and general readers. --Joel S. Schwartz, CUNY College of Staten Island, Professor emeritus
Kirkus Review
A vibrant history of the reception of Charles Darwin's ideas by American minds and spirits.With the theory of evolution still generating controversy, Fuller (English/Univ. of Tulsa; From Battlefields Rising: How the Civil War Transformed American Literature, 2011, etc.), a Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, focuses on the immediate response to Darwin's On the Origin of Species by a handful of prominent American thinkers: Harvard botanist Asa Gray, first to read the book; his intellectual adversary Louis Agassiz; transcendentalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry Thoreau; ardent abolitionist and educator Franklin Sanborn; Bronson Alcott, "the most radical idealist in America"; and Charles Loring Brace, a social reformer who shared his cousin Gray's copy with his New England friends. Drawing on his protagonists' public and private writings and letters, steeped in mid-19th-century culture, Fuller creates a rich tapestry of personalities and roiling ideas. In radiant prose, and with a sure eye for the telling detail, the author reveals the shattering impact of Darwin's book on religious thought, scientific inquiry, and especially on debates over slavery and, indeed, on the status of blacks on the evolutionary scale from beast to man. Even those who did not read the book itself, though it was easily available, had access to its ideas from reviews in important magazines, many of which "focused on the work's ethnological implications" to racial theories or criticized Darwin for undermining religion. Gray, who championed Darwin's ideas, tried mightily to reconcile them with his own theological convictions. Could natural selection "explain all of nature's marvels?" he asked. Surely it would take some omnipotent designer to create the human eye. Fuller asserts that "every nuance and involution in the book" refocused Thoreau's investigations into nature, and he shows how both pro-slavery advocates and abolitionists used Darwin's theories to defend their positions. Lincoln was vilified in pro-slavery cartoons, portrayed as a gorilla or "the missing link between blacks and whites." A fresh, invigorating history of philosophical and political struggles. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
Published during an extraordinarily turbulent time in the history of the United States-just prior to the Civil War and just after John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry-Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) would prove to have a significant impact on the country. Fuller (English, Univ. of Tulsa; From Battlefields Rising: How the Civil War Transformed American Literature) introduces the subject, focusing on a dinner party consisting of four of the most important America intellectuals and abolitionists of the time: Franklin Benjamin Sanborn, Charles Loring Brace, Amos Bronson Alcott, and Henry David Thoreau. During the gathering, Brace presented a copy of Darwin's seminal work. The title would profoundly affect them all, especially because it seemed to support abolitionism and unsettle their personal beliefs. By positing a common ancestor for all living creatures and intimating that all human beings were biologically related, Darwin demonstrated to proponents of slavery that they could no longer justify the institution with the assertion that blacks belonged to a different species than whites. Fuller is a skilled author who expertly describes the setting and the tension of the era. His -informative volume reads like a novel. VERDICT This fascinating account is recommended for those interested in literature, science, or 18th-century American history. [See -Prepub Alert, 7/25/16.]-Dave Pugl, Ela Area P.L., Lake Zurich, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Preface | p. ix |
| Part I Origins | |
| 1 The Book from Across the Atlantic | p. 3 |
| 2 Gray's Botany | p. 13 |
| 3 Beetles, Birds, Theories | p. 18 |
| 4 Word of Mouth | p. 29 |
| 5 Making a Stir | p. 43 |
| 6 A Night at the Lyceum | p. 51 |
| 7 The Nick of Time | p. 63 |
| Part II Struggles | |
| 8 Bones of Contention | p. 79 |
| 9 Agassiz | p. 84 |
| 10 The What-Is-It? | p. 96 |
| 11 A Spirited Conflict | p. 107 |
| 12 Into the Vortex | p. 116 |
| 13 Tree of Life | p. 128 |
| 14 A Jolt of Recognition | p. 136 |
| 15 Wildfires | p. 147 |
| Part III Adaptations | |
| 16 Discord in Concord | p. 161 |
| 17 Moods | p. 172 |
| 18 Meditations in a Garden | p. 181 |
| 19 The Succession of Forest Trees | p. 190 |
| 20 Races of the Old World | p. 196 |
| 21 A Cold Shudder | p. 204 |
| Part IV Transformations | |
| 22 At Down House | p. 219 |
| 23 The Ghost of John Brown | p. 231 |
| 4 In the Transcendental Graveyard | p. 242 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 257 |
| Notes | p. 258 |
| Selected Bibliography | p. 277 |
| Index | p. 285 |