Peter J. Bowler (born 8 October 1944) is a
historian of biology who has written extensively on the
history of evolutionary thought
Evolutionary thought, the recognition that species change over time and the perceived understanding of how such processes work, has roots in antiquity—in the ideas of the ancient Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Church Fathers as well as in medie ...
, the history of the
environmental sciences
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geo ...
, and on the
history of genetics
The history of genetics dates from the classical era with contributions by Pythagoras, Hippocrates, Aristotle, Epicurus, and others. Modern genetics began with the work of the Augustinian friar Gregor Johann Mendel. His work on pea plants, publis ...
. His 1984 book, ''Evolution: The History of an Idea'' is a standard textbook on the history of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
; a 25th anniversary edition came in 2009. His 1983 book ''The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades Around 1900'' describes (in a phrase of
Julian Huxley's)
the scientific predominance of other evolutionary theories which led many to minimise the significance of
natural selection
Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the heritable traits characteristic of a population over generations. Cha ...
, in the first part of the twentieth century before
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar wor ...
was reconciled with natural selection in the
modern synthesis
Modern synthesis or modern evolutionary synthesis refers to several perspectives on evolutionary biology, namely:
* Modern synthesis (20th century), the term coined by Julian Huxley in 1942 to denote the synthesis between Mendelian genetics and s ...
.
Life
Peter Bowler holds a BA from the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...
, an MSc from the
University of Sussex
, mottoeng = Be Still and Know
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £14.4 million (2020)
, budget = £319.6 million (2019–20)
, chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar
, vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil
, ...
and a PhD from the
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 ...
. In the 1970s he taught at the School of Humanities,
Universiti Sains Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia ( 'Science University of Malaysia'; abbreviation, abbreviated as USM) is a public research university in Malaysia. Founded on 1 June 1969 as a statutory body with its own constitution, it is among the oldest institute ...
, Penang. He is currently a professor in the
history of science at
Queen's University Belfast, and is an elected
Fellow
A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context.
In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements.
Within the context of higher education ...
of the
American Association for the Advancement of Science and a corresponding member of the
Académie Internationale d'Histoire des Sciences. He was President of the
British Society for the History of Science
The British Society for the History of Science (BSHS) was founded in 1947 by Francis Butler, Joan Eyles and Victor Eyles.
Overview
It is Britain's largest learned society devoted to the history of science, technology, and medicine. The society's ...
from 2004 to 2006.
[Peter Bowler's QUB staff page](_blank)
His current interests are in the development and implications of
Darwinism, the history of the environmental sciences,
science
Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...
and
religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
(especially twentieth century), and popular science writing.
Current research is on the production of popular science literature in early twentieth-century Britain, with particular emphasis on the role played by professional scientists.
Bowler discusses the attempts by Victorian scientists to promote science for public understanding and the increasing accessibility of popular science works.
[PJ Bowler ''Science For All'', Chicago Univ Press 2009](_blank)
Bowler has criticised
creationism in
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. He has made appearances on local radio, including interviews with
William Crawley on BBC
Radio Ulster
BBC Radio Ulster ( ga, BBC Raidió Uladh) is a Northern Irish radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. It i ...
shows ''TalkBack'' and ''Sunday Sequence'' - here he defended
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
and highlighted the non-scientific nature of creationism.
Publications
* ''Fossils and Progress: Palaeontology and the Idea of Progressive Evolution in the Nineteenth Century'' (1976)
* ''Theories of Human Evolution: A Century of Debate, 1844–1944'' (Wiley-Blackwell 1987)
* ''The Mendelian Revolution: The Emergence of Hereditarian Concepts in Modern Science and Society'' (
Continuum International, Athlone, 1989)
* ''The Invention of Progress: Victorians and the Past '' (Wiley-Blackwell, 1989)
* ''The Non-Darwinian Revolution: Reinterpreting a Historical Myth'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, New Edition, 1988)
* ''The Eclipse of Darwinism: Anti-Darwinian Evolution Theories in the Decades Around 1900'' (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1983)
* ''The Fontana History of the Environmental Sciences'' (Fontana Press, 1992)
* ''Biology and Social Thought: 1850–1914 : Five Lectures Delivered at the International Summer School in History of Science Uppsala, July 1990'' (Univ of California, 1993)
* ''Charles Darwin: the man and his influence'' (Cambridge, 1996).
* ''Life's splendid drama: evolutionary biology and the reconstruction of life’s ancestry, 1860–1940'' (Chicago, 1996).
* ''Reconciling science and religion: the debate in early twentieth-century Britain'' (Chicago, 2001).
* "The spectre of Darwinism: popular images of Darwinism in early twentieth-century Britain" in Abigail Lustig,
Robert J. Richards and
Michael Ruse (eds)
''Darwinian Heresies''(Cambridge, 2004) .
* (With I.R. Morus) ''Making modern science: a historical survey'' (Chicago, 2005).
* 'Experts and publishers: writing popular science in early twentieth-century Britain' in ''
British Journal for the History of Science'', xxxix (2006).
''Monkey Trials and Gorilla Sermons; Evolution and Christianity from Darwin to Intelligent Design''(Harvard University Press, 2007) .
* 'Darwin's Originality', in ''Science'' (9 January 2009: Vol. 323. no. 5911, pp. 223 – 226)
[Darwin's Originality, in ''Science'', 9 January 2009](_blank)
/ref>
* ''Evolution: the history of an idea'' (4th ed., California, 2009, ).
* ''Science for All: The Popularization of Science in Early Twentieth-Century Britain'' (Chicago, 2009).
* ''Q&A Darwin: Off the Record (with foreword by Richard Dawkins)'' (Duncan Baird, 2010).
* ''Darwin Deleted: Imagining a World Without Darwin'' (University of Chicago Press, 2013).
* ''A History of the Future: Prophets of Progress from H. G. Wells to Asimov'' (Cambridge University Press, 2017)
References
External links
Peter Bowler's staff page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowler, Peter John
Living people
Historians of science
Academics of Queen's University Belfast
Charles Darwin biographers
Critics of creationism
History of biology
Alumni of the University of Sussex
University of Toronto alumni
Alumni of King's College, Cambridge
1944 births
Historians of biology