{"product_id":"9781623565541","title":"In Praise of Darwin : George Romanes and the Evolution of a Darwinian Believer","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eIn Praise of Darwin\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): J. David Pleins\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eGeorge John Romanes, close friend and colleague of Darwin, remains a misunderstood figure in the history of evolutionary science. Although his scientific contributions have been valued, his religious journey has been either neglected or misjudged. Typically scholars only acknowledge some of the work on theism he did at the very end of his life and usually blame his wife for doctoring the record with her pieties. His extensive poetry writing, much of it religious, has never been explored and his \"Memorial Poem\" to Darwin has been completely overlooked. The recent discovery of the original typescript of the poem, lost for more than a century and reprinted in this book for the first time, allows us to enter the mind of a major Darwinian as we watch him struggle to put together faith and science on a positive basis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The recently discovered and slightly longer Typescript of the poem provides what Pleins views as a fresh means to examine Romanes’s transitions from youthful faith to Darwinian skepticism, to a supposedly new belief strengthened by understanding evolution. For the author, Romanes is a champion of a particular, personal, and creative reconciliation of science and religion. The book is mostly a meticulous examination, quatrain by quatrain, of Romanes’s poem, including handwritten marginalia, deletions, and additions. … A professor of religious studies at Santa Clara University, Pleins is … writing for the theological community, not for historians of science. … This of course does not mean Pleins should not be read by interested historians of science. He often presents a thoughtful and instructive reading of Victorian poetry, writing clearly and following the poem and his subject conscientiously. And is it a bad thing, when many in the United States are still trying to ban the teaching of evolution, to learn of a Darwinian who could openly grapple with his faith and seek and possibly find reconciliation, while still studying natural selection?” – Sheila Ann Dean, Cornell University Library, USA, \u003ci\u003eISIS: A Journal of the History of Science Society\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is an extraordinary book. The author, with meticulous attention to detail, traces the historical and spiritual journey of one of Charles Darwin’s most fervent admirers, George Romanes. … What is particularly striking in Pleins’s analysis is his ability to pick up specific resonances in the “Memorial Poem” with biblical texts. Few historians, perhaps, would have sufficient scriptural knowledge to recognize the connections that Pleins makes so evident, even if occasionally this requires some imagination.” -Celia Deanne-Drummond, University of Notre Dame, USA, \u003ci\u003eThe Journal of Religion\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This is a remarkable follow-up to the author's earlier work on Darwin's journey of faith, The Evolving God. Pleins has an exceptional sensitivity to the religious struggles of sincere seekers, especially scientists. Like Tennyson, he realizes that ‘there lives more faith in honest doubt. . . than in half the creeds.' The journey into skepticism by some scientifically educated Christians was especially tormenting since it seemed to estrange them agonizingly from family members and friends. Instead of viewing the loss of faith as liberation from authoritarianism, many literate people, once they had been exposed to science and ‘reason,' remained deeply tormented that they could no longer share the comforts of faith with the people they loved most. Darwin is a good example. George Romanes may be an even better one. We could hardly expect a more careful and scholarly treatment of Romanes's struggle than we have in Pleins's readable work. ” —John Haught, Professor Emeritus, Science and Religion, Georgetown University, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In this fascinating re-investigation of the life and thought of George Romanes, the author weaves together insights from Romanes' magisterial Memorial Poem with material arising from his interactions with his hero Charles Darwin, to generate a narrative that subverts any simplistic ‘science versus religion' historiography. The text is often counter-intuitive, full of surprises, and should be read by all those interested in the impact that Darwinian ideas had on the religious convictions of his contemporaries. ” —Denis Alexander, Emeritus Director of The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion, St Edmund's College, Cambridge, UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Whilst Tennyson’s poetic musings of Darwinian evolution in In Memoriam are now well-known enough to have passed into cliché (“Nature red in tooth and claw”), George Romanes’ Charles Darwin: A Memorial Poem by contrast has faded into obscurity. Now, thanks to J. David Pleins’ excellent new book, Romanes’ poem can assume its rightfully central place in our assessment of the reception of Darwin’s scientific theories and their impact on religious belief. A combination of the fortuitous discovery of the original typescript of Romanes’ poem and meticulous historical scholarship, Pleins’ book guides us through the poem as key to Romanes’ remarkable scientific and religious thought. Detailed, nuanced and lively, the book breaks new ground in the study of Romanes and his relation to his mentor Darwin; it also contributes significantly to wider historical work on the inter-relations of science and religion in the nineteenth century, cutting through the tired metaphors of warfare and conflict towards a more subtle account of the intellectual negotiations of those, like Romanes, immersed in both modern science and modern religion. ” —Russell Re Manning, Lord Gifford Fellow in the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, University of Aberdeen, UK\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Pleins’s book doesn’t focus on Romanes as an individual site of the conflict between faith and science. Instead, his book focuses on Romanes’s “Memorial Poem,” written in praise of Darwin at the time of Darwin’s death. The lengthy poem was lost to the public for over a century, only an abridged version published. It is reprinted here in an appendix, and Pleins spends most of the book analyzing it” —\u003ci\u003ePeter Leithart, First Things\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781623565541\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40628058783950,"sku":"9781623565541","price":150.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/getimage_26054302-1ac5-4f43-aede-5eb783dceed6.jpg?v=1638755849","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781623565541","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}