Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin is much more than the account of a charming, shy, rich naturalist who lived in the reign of Queen Victoria and had many remarkable insights. It is, in part, the story of the intellectual life of the West over the last two centuries. Darwin was himself the product of his times, and as he acknowledged, he formed his biological theory not just on the basis of biology but by the study of the work of social economists. Likewise, ever since 1859, men and women have had reasons, for believing or rejecting Darwin's theories, which do not pertain simply to the theories themselves. Darwin made claims about who we, the human race, actually are. To this extent, he was the creator of a myth as powerful as that of the Bible. It is not surprising that his myth upsets and undermines the Biblical myth - which is why Creationists from the mid-nineteenth century onwards have felt cornered by Darwin and attacked him with irrational fervour.