The Theory of Evolution has hardly seen calmer seas ever since its formulation in Charles Darwin’s 1859 book ‘On the Origin of Species’. Just like HMS Beaglewhich went through the stormiest seas in its five-year long voyage with Darwin on board, the Evolution theory too has been going through many a tempestuous sea.
Despite the ever increasing evidence that authenticate Darwin’s case, even more than 150 years after its birth the theory continued to be challenged and undermined by a powerful section of society.
The latest attack comes in the form of a book titled ‘Charles Darwin: Victorian Mythmaker’ by English journalist and writer A.N. Wilson. Besides making a puerile attempt to bulldoze Darwin’s Theory, Wilson has gone to the extent of ripping off Darwin’s character by portraying him as a cruel and eccentric totalitarian with very little regard for the poor. Wilson’s book however has already come under the scanner by the intelligentsia and reputed media. The Guardian has dismissed the publication as a “cheap attempt to ruffle feathers”.
One wonders how a layman opts to publish such an outrageous account on a scientist especially after a series of well-researched biographies on the same person by those who are well versed in the subject. Among the many noteworthy books publish in the new millennium is the 2003 biography ‘Charles Darwin: The Power of Place’ by British science historian, Professor Janet Brownwhich earned accolades from several quarters.
Wilson’s book is being released at a time of rising pressure on several governments to play down the evolution theory in the secondary school curriculum. Many nations have been attempting to strike a balance between Evolution theory and Creation by including both in the curriculum. Some have even gone to the extent of referring to the Intelligent Design which proposes that living organisms were created in more or less their present forms by an “intelligent designer”.
A few weeks back the most secular Islamic nation in the world, Turkey, shocked the rational world with an announcement to scrap Darwin’s theory from school text books from next year onward.
Turkey, which practises law of laicite that calls for the separation of religion and the State, neither recognizes an official religion nor promotes any, despite Islam being the religion of more than 99% of its population. However, there’s strong criticism against incumbent President Tayyip Erdoğanby, the international community as well as secular Turks for contravening the national policy and pushing the nation towards religious extremism.
Turkey’s main opposition the Republican People’s Party (CHP) has called the decision to remove evolution theory from school text books as a move to “condemn the Turkish public to darkness.” It’s a well-known fact that the founder of modern Turkey, General Mustafa Kemal Atatürk who declared Turkey a secular State emphasized that education should be based on science and not on religious dogmas.
Turkey’s decision comes at a time when Iran is being hailed by global academics for being on par with European nations when it came to dedication of space and information to the Evolution Theory in school text books.
A study by Science magazine published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science has revealed that despite the extensive coverage on evolution in school books, still only about 40% US citizens subscribe to the theory. On the other hand nearly 80% of the population in Britain, France and Japan believe that human beings developed from earlier species of animals. A joint survey by Auspoll and the Australian Academy of Science in 2010 found that 79% of Australians believed in the theory of evolution. Besides an average of 70% of people in Latin American countries subscribe to evolution.
The most intellectually advanced nation Germany was interestingly the first country to embrace Evolution theory and months after publication of Darwin’s book in 1859, German paleontologist Heinrich Georg Bronn published its German translation. Even today nearly 80% of the population believe in evolution.
Still none of these nations can boast of having the biggest support base for Darwin. The Nordic region which is dominated by Lutheran Christians has emerged the strongest supporter for the theory of evolution. Iceland, one of the most informed nations in the world, leads the pack with nearly 85% acceptance rate while the others in region follow still with more than 80% in almost all countries.
Under these circumstances any attack on Darwin is destined to go down as an assault on the commonsense of the informed human beings in this age of science.
