FASCINATING STORY' OF MAN'S PAST
Otto, Max C.
'Fascinating Story' Of Man's Past EVOLUTION. The Modern Synthesis, by Julian Huxley. Harper and Brothers. $5. Reviewed by Max C. Otto IN 16 YEARS—assuming that World War II is ended and World...
...The purpose manifested in evolution," he points out, "is only an apparent purpose...
...Of course many editions and thousands upon thousands of copies have been sold since that time...
...If we wish to work towards a purpose for the future of man, we must formulate the purpose ourselves...
...The study of genes has thrown much light on the heretofore obscure puzzle of individual variation from type...
...Some day—personally, I fully expect this to happen —the present concept of evolution will be replaced, as the concept of special creation was replaced, by wider and profounder knowledge...
...It may continue in the future, but it is not inevitable...
...The part which the evolutionary biologist sees is however so large a part that a picture of the whole, were it seen, could include this part much as we now see it...
...for, after all, the physical environment to which all creatures must adjust themselves is causally implicated in the evolutionary outcome, hence would have to be included were the whole story told...
...The theme, with endless variations, will be the revolution in man's outlook on the world and his insight into life caused by that book, a revolution which has penetrated literally into every field- of investigation and thought...
...Such readers will find in the first chapter an excellent description, neat and authentic, of the problem as Darwin saw it and of the proof he relied upon to establish his conclusions...
...In man and man alone progress becomes purposive...
...No, we do not yet know the full story...
...The second chapter will give him a good picture of the multiple lines along which evolutionary change has taken place, and of the complex and interrelated factors, internal to the organism and external to it in the world outside, which are always involved in any evolutionary advance...
...If the human beings in whom the evolutionary process has culminated are as wise as they ought to be, they will not ignore this fascinating history of their past, but will study it for hints which may help them to move on to a happier future...
...They block "the formulation of an agreed purpose for man as a whole" directed upon "progress in this existing world...
...As against this theistic interpretation the author holds that there is indeed progressive direction in evolution, but no purpose...
...They will learn in addition how this procedure has had to be amplified because of later knowledge, especially that resulting from Mendelian studies...
...To laymen the first two chapters, "The Theory of Natural Selection" and "The Multiformity of Evolution," and the last chapter, "Evolutionary Progress," will probably have most to say...
...But the talk at the commemoration will not be of sales...
...The chapter ends on a note which distinguishes this , idea of progressive evolution from that of John Fiske, Henry Drummond, and their followers, who reasoned from the fact of progress to a divine purpose to account for it...
...Besides, we have as yet, I think, no satisfactory explanation of the rise of human speech and conceptual thought which, according to Mr...
...It appeals mainly, as the author hopes, to professional biologists interested in the more general aspects of their subjects, but it should also prove stimulating and immensely informing to thoughtful laymen who have acquired some acquaintance with evolutionary problems and their potential social significance...
...It is just as much a product of blind forces as is the falling of a stone to earth or the ebb and flow of the tides...
...The final chapter, however, is likely to be by far the most stimulating...
...It is therefore good news that this distinguished scientist has reached an unambiguous decision in the matter...
...The question of whether we have a right to apply the term progress to biological evolution, or must think of it as confined to mere adaptive change, has been a subject of debate among experts from the beginning...
...When that commemoration takes place, people in general will get a new conception of the incredible quantities of fact which continued research has brought to the support of the Darwinian hypothesis...
...Huxley, form the basis for man's biological dominance...
...Besides, who is not interested in knowing whether human beings are doomed to move round and round, the while deluding themselves into believing that they are making progress, or whether, by making intelligent effort, mankind has moved forward and may continue to do so...
...The best of men—and that means the best of scientists, too—sees only in part...
...it does not even give us a complete description of the proliferation of living forms...
...It will be 100 years since the appearance of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life...
...The attempt of metaphysical thinkers to read a purpose into the natural cosmos and of theistic thinkers to look for a supernatural purpose behind the cosmos, are two of the great obstacles, we are told, that have to be overcome...
...It can be shown to have taken place on the prehuman and on the human level...
...As for the rest of us, it may safely be said that this book shows Darwinism to have no respectful competitor in its field...
...Purposes in life are made, not found...
...man, by now become the trustee of evolution, must work and plan if he is to achieve further progress for himself and so for life...
...Reviewed by Max C. Otto IN 16 YEARS—assuming that World War II is ended and World War III has not begun—the whole world will be commemorating the publication of one of the most remarkable books ever printed...
...It does not give us a complete description of the world panorama, much of which it simply takes for granted...
...The 1,250 copies of the first edition were sold the day of publication, and a second edition of 3,000 copies soon afterward...
...In the meantime a magnificent preview of the biological material is presented in this superb work by Julian Huxley...
...Between these chapters at the beginning and at the end of the book are 500 pages of data, ideas, deductions, surmises, critical analyses, etc., which specialists will doubtless consult for a long time to come...
...The welfare of mankind hangs upon the formulation of this unifying purpose...
...Thus defined progress has been a major fact of past evolution...
...He believes that progress is a thoroughly scientific concept...
...Prehuman progress is evident in the increasing control or independence of the environment, and human progress in increases of aesthetic, intellectual, and spiritual experience and satisfaction...
...But for the present, the Theory of Evolution, and the Darwinian form of it, are the best explanation we have of how living creatures and their works came to be...
Vol. 7 • October 1943 • No. 42
