Life and Habit

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title Life and Habit
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Samuel Butler
SeriesCambridge Library Collection - Darwin, Evolution and Genetics
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:324
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
ISBN/Barcode 9781108005517
ClassificationsDewey:576.82
Audience
Professional & Vocational
Illustrations Worked examples or Exercises

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 20 July 2009
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

William Bateson claimed at the Darwin Centenary in 1909 that Samuel Butler (1835-1902) was 'the most brilliant and by far the most interesting of Darwin's opponents, whose works are at length emerging from oblivion.' Best remembered today as the author of the novels Erewhon and The Way of All Flesh, he also wrote on a range of subjects from translations of Homer to studies of evolutionary thought. In his Life and Habit (published in 1878) Butler contended that much of inheritance was based on habit making a feature ingrained, to the extent that it could pass between generations. However, he strongly contests Darwin's views on natural selection, and supports those of Lamarck - who he felt was unjustly overlooked in the scientific rush to acclaim Darwin - and of St George Mivart, whose On the Genesis of Species, published in 1871, was another blast against natural selection by a disenchanted Darwinist.