Henry Fairfield Osborn

Prize: Nominated for the Pfizer Prize 2003 'Brian Regal's book derives from a fresh study of Osborn's published and especially his archival sources, and provides important new insights into the motivations behind both the evolutionary and social theories of one of the most enigmatic figures of early twentieth-century biology. Tracing Osborn's theory of an Asian origin of human beings to his religious upbringing that mandated improvement through struggle, Regal places Osborn's human evolutionary theories squarely in both the scientific and evangelical context of late nineteenth and early twentieth century America.' Garland E. Allen, Washington University in St Louis 'This is a wonderful book about a fascinating man. Henry Fairfield Osborn was a great leader in science at the beginning of the last century and a dedicated champion of evolution. He was also a man with all of the prejudices (and some) of his day, and at the fore of efforts to restrict immigration and otherwise repress those not of his class and race. It would be easy - too easy - to paint him in stark white or black, but Brian Regal brings a much more subtle brush, showing how complex and interesting are the issues, and how looking at an all-too-human person can throw light on him and his society - on us and our society. Highly recommended!' Michael Ruse, Florida State University 'Regal...bring[s] to his subject a valuable dispassionate academic eye and a lively style which is infectiously readable.... excellent.' Fortean Times '... very good intellectual biography of Osborn that is often nuanced with an appreciation for the complexity of issues.' Journal of the History of Biology 'Regal argues that a closer study of Osborn's personal development, especially in his early years, can throw light both on the nature and the origins of his biological and social evolutionism. I think that his book substantiates this claim, and I certainly feel that I now understand Osborn's views much better than

Auteur
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Brian Regal is Assistant Professor of History, Kean University, USA He was an invitee to the recent Max Planck Institute seminar on human origins in Berlin.

Texte du rabat

An examination of the work of Henry Fairfield Osborn, whose great scientific concern was to link human origins to racial hierarchies. A product of conflicting paradigms, the author suggests that Osborn's empirical quest was inextricably linked to his hope of salvation.

Contenu
Contents: Introduction: Deconstructing Henry; 'The era of rash guesses'; 'The helmet of our salvation'; The Romantic empiricist; The Central Asia hypothesis; A mongrelized world; Go and find them; Terrible monkeys; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.