Lincoln and Darwin: Shared Visions of Race, Science, and by James Lander PDF

Born at the comparable day in 1809, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin have been precise contemporaries.  even though formed by way of significantly varied environments, that they had remarkably related values, reasons, and ways. during this fascinating new research, James Lander locations those iconic males facet by means of aspect and divulges the parallel perspectives they shared of guy and God.

While Lincoln is popular for his oratorical prowess and for the Emancipation Proclamation, in addition to many different accomplishments, his medical and technological pursuits aren't widely known; for instance, many american citizens don't know that Lincoln is the one U.S. president to acquire a patent. Darwin, nevertheless, is well known for his medical achievements yet now not for his passionate dedication to the abolition of slavery, which partly drove his study in evolution. either males took nice pains to prevent inflicting pointless offense regardless of having deserted conventional Christianity. each one had one major adversary who recommended clinical racism: Lincoln had Stephen A. Douglas, and Darwin had Louis Agassiz.

With swish and complex writing, Lander expands on those commonalities and uncovers extra shared connections to humans, politics, and occasions. He strains how those highbrow giants came to carry remarkably related perspectives on the evils of racism, the worth of technological know-how, and the uncertainties of traditional religion.

Separated by way of an ocean yet joined of their rules, Lincoln and Darwin acted as trailblazers, prime their societies towards better freedom of notion and a better recognition of human equality. This attention-grabbing biographical exam brings the mid-nineteenth-century discourse approximately race, technology, and humanitarian sensibility to the vanguard utilizing the mutual pursuits and ambitions of those historical figures.