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"... Science as yet
throws no light on the far higher
problem of the essence or origin of life...It is a mere rag of an
hypothesis...I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the
bounds of true science
with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts."
Charles Darwin*
*These Charles Darwin
admissions, presented on the homepage, can be found in The
Origin of Species, p. 637; in a Charles Darwin letter to Asa Gray,
cited by Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin, (New York: W.W.
Norton and Company, 1991) p. 456; and in Darwin, p. 475. Other
Darwin thoughts, laced with subjective bias, suggest the thinking of a
Victorian era elitist/philosopher rather than an objective scientist.
 "...natural selection acts only by taking advantage of slight successive
variations; she can never take a great and sudden leap, but must advance
by short and sure, thought slow, steps."
Darwin,
The Origin of
Species, 247
"...some
extremely remote progenitor of the whole vertebrate kingdom appears to
have been hermaphrodite or androgynous."
The
Descent of Man,
vol I, 207
"...the early
progenitor of all the Vertebrata must have been an aquatic animal,
provided with branchiae, with the two sexes united in the same individual,
and with the most important organs of the body (such as the brain and
heart) imperfectly developed."
Descent,
vol II, 389, 390
"...all the
higher mammals are probably derived from an ancient marsupial, and this
through a long line of diversified forms, either from some reptile-like or
some amphibian-like creature, and this again from some fish-like animal."
Descent,
vol II, 389
"...the
progenitors of man must have been aquatic in their habits; for morphology
plainly tells us that our lungs consist of a modified swim-bladder...the
heart existed as a simple pulsating vessel..."
Descent,
vol II, 207
"...man is
descended from some less highly organised form."
Descent,
vol II, 385
"...man is the
co-descendant with other mammals of a common progenitor."
Descent,
vol II, 386
"...early
progenitors of man were no doubt once covered with hair, both sexes having
beards; their ears were pointed and capable of movement; and their bodies
were provided with a tail..."
Descent,
vol I, 206
"...man appears
to have diverged from the ,,, Old World division of the Simiadae, after
these had diverged from the New World division."
Descent,
vol I, 201
"The Simiadae...
branched off into two great stems; the New World and Old World monkeys;
and from the latter, at a remote period, Man, the wonder and glory of the
Universe proceeded...we may, with our present knowledge, approximately
recognise our heritage; nor need we feel ashamed of it..."
Descent,
vol I, 213
"...we may feel
certain...that no cataclysm has desolated the whole world."
Origin,
648
"...science as yet
throws no light on the far higher
problem of the essence or origin of life."
Origin,
637
"...I am quite
conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science."
Charles Darwin to Asa Gray, cited
by Adrian Desmond and James Moore, Darwin, (New York: W.W. Norton and
Company, 1991) p. 456.
"It is a mere rag
of an hypothesis with as many flaw[s] & holes as sound parts."
Desmond &
Moore, Darwin, 475
"...Man is descended from a hairy quadruped, furnished with a tail and
pointed ears, probably arboreal in its habits..."
Descent, vol II,
389
"The chief
distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is shewn [shown]
by man attaining to a higher eminence in whatever he takes up, than woman
can attain—whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or
merely the use of the senses and hands."
Descent,
vol II, 327
"If two lists
were made of the most eminent men and women in poetry, painting,
sculpture, music,---comprising composition and performance, history,
science, and philosophy, with half-a-dozen names under each subject, the
two lists would not bear comparison. We may also infer...that if men are
capable of decided eminence over women in many subjects, the average
standard of mental power in man must be above that of a woman."
Descent,
vol II, 327
"...vaccination
has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would formerly have
succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of civilized societies
propagate their kind... this must be highly injurious to the race of man.
It is surprising how soon a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads
to the degeneration of a domestic race..."
Descent,
vol I, 168
"...we must bear
without complaining the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak surviving and
propagating their kind..."
Descent,
vol I, 169
"At some future
period, not very far distant, as measured by centuries, the civilised
[civilized] races of man will almost certainly exterminate the replace
throughout the world the savage races."
Descent,
vol I, 201
"...Geological research...does not yield the infinitely many fine
gradations between past and present species required on the theory...Why
do we not find beneath this system great piles of strata stored with the
remains of the progenitors of the Cambrian fossils?..."
Origin,
617, 618
"... the production
of new forms has caused the extinction of about
the same number of old forms."
Origin, 453
"...we may safely
infer that not one living species will transmit
its unaltered likeness to a distant futurity."
Origin,
647
"...various races
differ much from each other...the capacity of the lungs, the form and
capacity of the skull...in their intellectual, faculties."
Descent,
vol I, 216
"...the civilized
races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace throughout the
world the savage races."
Descent,
vol I, 201
"The western
nations of Europe,...immeasurably surpass their former savage progenitors
and stand at the summit of civilization..."
Descent,
vol I, 178
"...the average
standard of mental power in man must be above that of woman."
Descent,
vol II, 327
"The chief
distinction in the intellectual power of the two sexes is shown by man
attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, than woman can
attain---whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or merely
the use of the sense and hands. If two lists were made of the most
eminent men and women in poetry, painting, sculpture, music,---comprising
composition and performance, history, science, and philosophy, with
half-a-dozen names under each subject, the two lists would not bear
comparison."
Descent,
vol II, 327
"...without the
accumulation of capital the arts could not progress; and it is chiefly
through their power that the civilized races have extended, and are now
everywhere extending, their range, so as to take the place of the lower
races."
Descent,
vol I, 169
"The presence
of...well-instructed men, who have not to labour for their daily bread, is
important to a degree which cannot be overestimated; as all high
intellectual work is carried on by them, and on such work material
progress of all kinds mainly depends."
Descent,
vol I, 169
"Thus man has
ultimately become superior to woman."
Descent, vol II, 328
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