Audiobook · read by volunteers
Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–1895)
Read by J. M. Smallheer · 4 chapters · 2 h 12
About the book
Thomas Henry Huxley, the biologist who defended Darwin's ideas in public, looks back over fifty years of scientific progress in this lively essay from 1889. Writing for a general audience, he surveys the changes that had transformed physics, chemistry and the study of living things since the early part of the century. He explains the stakes of the great debates of his day with a clarity that made him one of the most effective popular writers on science, and he does not hide his opinions about those who resisted new ideas. The text is divided into four parts and lasts about two hours and ten minutes, read by a single volunteer. It makes an engaging historical document for anyone interested in the story of science, as well as an example of persuasive essay writing from a master of the form.
Introduction
Thomas Henry Huxley, who lived from 1825 to 1895, was an English biologist and essayist. He was a strong advocate of the theory of evolution and coined the term agnostic to describe his own position on religious questions. A gifted writer and speaker, he helped popularise science in the nineteenth century through lectures and essays aimed at the general public.
The Advance of Science in the Last Half-Century was published in 1889 and looks back on the years since around 1840. In it he describes developments in several fields and considers how scientific habits of thought had spread. Such retrospective essays were popular in the late Victorian press, which liked to take stock of progress. Huxley's piece gives a snapshot of how an informed scientist of the time saw his own era.
The recording has four parts and lasts about two hours, read by one LibriVox volunteer. It is clear, direct and well organised, and it gives a sense of the excitement felt by scientists who had lived through enormous changes. Today it remains of interest to anyone curious about the history of ideas, the reception of evolutionary theory or the craft of writing about science for non-specialists. Huxley's confidence and combativeness are part of the entertainment. He writes as a participant in the struggles he describes, and his judgments on contemporaries are frank. The essay therefore offers not only information but also an immediate impression of the intellectual climate of the time.
Public domain
Thomas Henry Huxley died in 1895: the work is in the public domain in Switzerland, more than 70 years after the author’s death.
The LibriVox volunteers dedicated this recording to the public domain.
Sources : LibriVox page · Files at the Internet Archive · Original text