The reception in Russia of Darwinian doctrines concerning evolution

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" The reception in Russia of Darwinian doctrines concerning evolution "
White, Sarah Swinburne

Document Type	:	Latin Dissertation
Record Number	:	1100330
Doc. No	:	TLets623161
Main Entry	:	White, Sarah Swinburne
Title & Author	:	The reception in Russia of Darwinian doctrines concerning evolution\ White, Sarah Swinburne
College	:	University of London
Date	:	1968
student score	:	1968
Degree	:	Ph.D.
Abstract	:	There are two important reasons for studying thereception of Darwinian concepts in Russia in the 19thcentury. First, very little is generally known inEngland about Russian biology and geology of thatcentury and the period is especially interesting sinceit precedes that of modern Soviet science. Second,the differences and similarities of the reception ofDarwinism in Russia with its reception elsewhere throwlight on the general progress of acceptance andrejection of a scientific theory.Darwin's theory of evolution affected man's wholeconception of himself. Since it was a philosophy aswell as a scientific theory the quality of itsreception in Russia as in other countries was to acertain extent dependent on the cultural mores of thatcountry as well as on the force of scientific argument.In order to understand the reception of Darwinianconcepts in Russia in its totality it was necessary todeal with the background in some detail. An outline ofthe cultural, social and political traditions in Russiain the 19th century provides a background against which the reception of Darwinian concepts can be seen in its perspective and in its relation with the various intellectual discussions and cultural movements taking place during that time. A detailed description of the organisation of science and of the actual content of the sciences of biology and geology in the first half of the 19th century provides the necessary historical back. ground to the state of science in Russia at the time of the dissemination of Darwin's book the Origin of Species, a background especially essential for the English reader. The actual steps by which Darwin's ideas were disseminated and the reaction from the reading public throughout the second half of the 19th century forms a skeleton in which the impact of the theory of evolution and of Darwinian concepts on Russian biology and geology and on its social and cultural ideas and of their impact in turn on the interpretation and emphases given to the theory and its concepts in Russia.
Added Entry	:	University of London