Download Syllabus - Erika Milam

PrincetonUniversity History392
Spring2017–TheHistoryofDarwinism
Prof. Erika Lorraine Milam
Location: Fisher Hall B03
Time: Tuesdays and Thursdays 1:30-2:50 pm
Office Hours: 135 Dickinson, Thursdays 9:30-11:30 am, or by arrangement
You can guarantee yourself a specific time slot by signing up through WASS:
https://wass.princeton.edu/pages/viewcalendar.page.php?makeapp=1&cal_id=1615.
Contact: email: [email protected] or office phone: 609.258.0209
—DickOldden,TheMedicalTribune(3April1961)
____________________________________________
CourseDescription
In 1973, population geneticist Theodosius Dobzhansky proudly declared, “Nothing in biology
makes sense except in the light of evolution.”1 At the time, however, evolutionary biologists like
Dobzhansky were fighting intellectual battles on many fronts: against molecular biologists who
believed the future of biology resided in cells and DNA, against a new generation of “young turks”
like paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould who sought to make intellectual room for theories like
punctuated equilibrium, and against conservatives seeking to oust natural selection from classrooms.
Despite Dobzhansky’s triumphalist claim, the future of evolutionary biology as a field seemed
anything but secure.
By interweaving intellectual and cultural threads, this course traces the interdisciplinary history of
evolutionary theory from Charles Darwin (and the natural historians on whom he drew), through
1
Theodosius Dobzhansky, “Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution,” The
American Biology Teacher 35/3 (1973): 125-129.
1
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Dobzhansky and Gould, to the late 20th century. Across this century and a half we will explore how
biologists invested in evolutionary theory the capacity to explain our all too human nature and,
perhaps, the possibility of solving some of the world’s most pressing problems—including racial
conflicts and the battle of the sexes. We will see how evolutionary theory became a model linking
disparate life sciences, building on evidence from bones, organisms, and molecules. We will also
discuss how and why critics have attacked evolution as amoral and socially dangerous. In sum, the
course reveals how impossible it is to understand the history of a professional scientific theory
without taking into account both the implications of the theory in other disciplines and
contemporary popular opinion. ____________________________________________
ClassMeetings
In general, the class is organized to emphasize lecture on Thursday and discussion on Tuesday,
although it will take a few days to settle into that schedule. Attendance at lectures and participation
in discussions are required.
Readings
This course involves a little over 100 pages of reading per week. All readings are what historians call
“primary sources” related to the main theme of the week’s lectures. That is, these essays and papers
and chapters provide historical evidence of the social and intellectual stakes of their authors, usually
scientists. All readings will be available through the course Blackboard site.
Evaluation&Grading
Participation, incl. responses:
30%
Two Short Papers (6-7 pages):
20%
One Longer Paper (10-12 pages):
30%
Responses due Monday before 6pm,
regarding readings for the following day
Paper 1: Due Friday, Mar 10 before 5pm
Paper 2: Due Friday, April 21 before 5pm
Paper 3: Due Dean’s Date before 5pm
Participation
Discussion will focus on questions introduced during lecture and on deeper analysis of selected
issues raised by the readings assigned for that week. Class participation will be judged according
to the History Department’s grading rubric (found at the end of the syllabus). If you miss more
than one discussion without a pre-arranged acceptable excuse, you will receive a failing
participation grade.
Over the course of the semester, you are required to turn in six reading responses of 500 words,
each describing two themes you see running through the readings as a whole and posing a
question. These are due to me via email Monday at 6pm. These will not be graded but will count
towards your participation grade.
Papers will be judged on the merits of their argument, use of evidence, and presentation, as
outlined in the History Department’s grading rubric (found at the end of this syllabus). For each
paper, you will be given a set of essay prompts that you will need to answer based on the
2
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
readings and discussion from class. The first two papers will not require any additional outside
research. The final, longer paper will be more open-ended and allow you to explore a topic you
have found especially interesting during the semester. It will require additional independent
research.
LatePolicies
Late reading responses will not be accepted. The penalty for late papers is as follows—a third of
a letter grade will be deducted for each 24-hour period after the deadline. It’s up to you to decide
whether the deduction is worth the extra time. After 7 days, late papers will no longer be
accepted.
LaptopPolicy
Students can use a laptop to take notes in class if they sign a “Laptop Contract” in which they agree
to use their laptop in lecture for note-taking purposes only. Failure to adhere to this agreement may
lead to laptops being banned for the entire class.
Laptops are not allowed in discussions, so you may want to print the readings or take notes on the
readings in a separate notebook that you can access during discussions.
____________________________________________
CourseSchedule
Part1.AQuickHistoricalStudyofDarwin,HisInspirations,andtheLegacyofHisIdeas
Day One – Introduction to the Course
Lecture & Discussion: Feb 7
“AspeciesofLizardFoundonsomeofthe
IslandsoftheGalapagosArchipelago,”
TheVoyageoftheBeagle
Day Two – On the Origin of Species
Lecture & Discussion: Feb 9
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life (London: John Murray, 1859): “Struggle for Existence,” 60-79,
“Natural Selection,” 80-130, and “Recapitulation and Conclusion,” 459-490. [103 pp.]
Day Three – Traveling and Field Research
Lecture and Discussion: Feb 14
Charles Darwin, “Galapagos Archipelago,” The Voyage of the Beagle (New York: P. F. Collier &
Son, 1909 reprint), 394-424. [31 pp.]
3
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Alexander von Humboldt, “Introduction,” Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of
the New Continent, during the years 1799-1804, Vol. 1, trans. Helen Maria Williams (London:
Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, 1814), i-li. [51 pp.]
Week Two – Species Before Origin
Lecture: Feb 16
Discussion: Feb 21
CharlesDarwin,NotebookB:
TransmutationofSpecies(1837)
Readings
Robert Chambers, “Mental Constitution of Animals,” in Vestiges
of the Natural History of Creation (London: John Churchill,
1844): 324-360. [37 pp.]
George Cuvier, “4. First Proofs of Revolutions on the Surface of the Globe” and “30. Proofs
that the extinct Species of Quadrupeds are not Varieties of the presently existing Species,” in
Essay on the Theory of the Earth (Edinburgh: William Blackwood, 1822), 7-23, 114-128. [32 pp.]
Lorenz Oken, “Preface to the Translation,” “Preface,” and “Introduction,” in Elements of
Physiophilosophy, trans. Alfred Tulk (London: Ray Society, 1847), ix-xiv, 1-4. [10 p.]
William Paley, “The Being of God Demonstrated in the Works of Creation,” in E. Paley, ed.
Works of William Paley, D. D., Vol. VII (London: Thomas Davison, 1825), 405-419. [15 pp.]
Week Three – Progressive Adaptation
Lecture: Feb 23, Discussion: Feb 28
Frontispiece,ThomasHenryHuxley,
EvidenceastoMan’sPlaceinNature
(London:WilliamsandNorgate,1863).
Readings
Letter Alfred Russel Wallace to Richard
Spruce, 19 September 1852: http://wallaceletters.info/content/“i-am-afraid-ship’s-fire” and
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/research-curation/scientific-resources/collections/librarycollections/wallace-letters-online/349/349/S/details.html.
Letter Charles Darwin to Alfred Russel Wallace, 1 May 1857:
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2086.xml.
Letter Charles Darwin to Asa Gray, 5 September 1857:
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2136.xml.
Letter Charles Darwin to Alfred Russel Wallace, 22 December 1857:
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2192.xml.
4
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Letter Charles Darwin to Charles Lyell, 18 June 1858:
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2285.xml.
Letter J.D. Hooker and Charles Lyell to the Linnean Society, 30 June 1858:
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/DCP-LETT-2299.xml.
Thomas Henry Huxley, “On the Relation of Man to the Lower Animals,” in Evidence as to Man’s
Place in Nature (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1863), 71-132. [62 pp.]
Alfred Russel Wallace, “Preface” and “Borneo—The Orang-Utan,” in The Malay Archipelago, illus.
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869), v-viii, 46-74. [33 pp.]
Week Four – Politics of Nature
Lecture: Mar 2, Discussion: Mar 7
Readings
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Women and Economics: A Study of the Economic
Relations Between Men and Women as a Factor in Social Evolution
(Boston: Small, Maynard & Company, 1898), 1-22. [22 pp.]
Thomas Henry Huxley, “The Struggle for Existence: A Programme,” The Nineteenth Century
23/132 (1888): 161-180. [20 pp.]
Charles Kingsley, “On the Study of Natural History,” in New Miscellanies (Boston: Ticknor and
Fields, 1860), 277-296. [20 pp.]
Peter Kropotkin, “Introduction” and “Conclusion,” in Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (New
York: McClure Phillips & Co., 1902), vii-xix, 293-300. [21 pp.]
Herbert Spencer, “Preparation in Biology,” in Study of Sociology (New York: D. Appleton &
Company, 1874), 327-354. [29 pp.]
Week Five – Family of Man
Lecture: Mar 9, Discussion: Mar 14
Readings
Theodosius Dobzhansky, “The Road Traversed and the Road
Ahead,” in Mankind Evolving: The Evolution of the Human Species
(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1962): 319-348. [30 pp.]
Julian Huxley, “Human Power and its Control,” Yale Review 4
(1931): 649-669. [21 pp.]
Joshua Lederberg, “The Genetics of Human Nature,” Social
Research 40/3 (1973): 375-406. [36 pp.]
George Gaylord Simpson, “Modes of Evolution,” in Tempo and Mode in Evolution (New York:
Columbia University Press, 1984 [1944]): 197-217. [21 pp.]
UNESCO, “The Scientific Basis for Human Unity, 18 July 1950,” The Phi Delta Kappan 32/2
(1950): 34-36. [3 pp.]
First Short Essay Due (Friday, March 10 before 5pm)
5
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Week 6 – Genetics and Evolution
Lecture: Thursday, Mar 16
Spring Break (March 18-26)
Discussion: Tuesday, Mar 28
AEukaryoticCell
Readings
Rebecca Cann, “DNA and Human Origins,” Annual
Review of Anthropology 17 (1988): 127-143. [17 pp.]
Bernard D. Davis, “Bacterial Genetics and Drug
Resistance,” Public Health Reports 67/4 (1952):
376-379. [4 pp.]
Lynn Margulis, “The Symbiotic Theory,” in Origin of Eukaryotic Cells (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1970): 45-68. [24 pp.]
Thomas Hunt Morgan, “Selection and Evolution,” in A Critique of the Theory of Evolution
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1916): 145-194. [50 pp.]
Francis J. Ryan, “Evolution Observed,” Scientific American 189/4 (1953): 78-82. [5 pp.]
____________________________________________
Part 2. Debates and Controversies in the 20th Century
Week Seven – Could “Life” Itself have Evolved?
Lecture: Mar 30, Discussion: Apr 4
Readings
Erasmus Darwin, The Temple of Nature: Or, the origin of society: A Poem,
with philosophical notes (London: J. Johnson, 1803): “Canto I.
Production of Life,” 3-39, and “Additional Notes: Spontaneous
Vitality of Microscopic Animals,” 1-11. [48 pp.]
J. B. S. Haldane, “What is Life,” in Keeping Cool and Other Essays (London: Chatto and Windus,
1940): 48-63. [16 pp.]
J. B. S. Haldane, “The Origin of Life,” Rationalist Annual (1929): 1-10. [10 pp.]
Joshua Lederberg, “Of Men and Microbes,” New Perspectives Quarterly 20/3 (2003): 53-55. [3 pp.]
Carl Sagan and Joshua Lederberg, “The Prospects for Life on Mars: A Pre-Viking Assessment,”
Icarus 28 (1976): 291-300. [10 pp.]
George Gaylord Simpson, “The Nonprevalence of Humanoids,” Science 143 (1964): 769-775.
[7 pp.]
6
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Week Eight – Did Evolution Change Ideas
about Race?
Lecture: Apr 6, Discussion: Apr 11
Readings
Amram Scheinfeld, “Race,”in You and
Heredity (Philadelphia: Frederick A.
Stokes, 1939): 335-355. [21 pp.]
Carleton S. Coon, The Origin of Races
(New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1962),
excerpt.
W. E. B. DuBois and Augustus Dill, “Home Life,” in Morals and Manners Among Negro Americans
(Atlanta, GA: The Atlanta University Press, 1914), 67-81. [15 pp.]
Paul R. Ehrlich and Richard W. Holm, “A Biological View of Race,” in Ashley Montagu, ed. The
Concept of Race (London: The Free Press of Glencoe, 1964): 153-179. [27 pp.]
Joseph A. Towles and Colin M. Turnbull, “The White Problem in America,” Natural History
(June-July 1968): 6-18. [6 pp.]
Alfred Russel Wallace, “The Origin of Human Races and the Antiquity of Man Deduced from
the Theory of ‘Natural Selection,’” Journal of the Anthropological Society of London 2 (1964): clviiiclvxxvii. [30 pp.]
Sherwood L. Washburn, “Thinking About Race” Annual Report Smithsonian Institution (1945): 363378. [16 pp.]
Sherwood Washburn, “The Study of Race,” American Anthropologist 65 (1963): 521-531. [11 pp.]
Week Nine – Are Feminism and Evolution Antithetical?
Lecture: Apr 13, Discussion: Apr 18
Readings
Charles Darwin, “General Summary and Conclusion,” in Descent of Man
and Selection in Relation to Sex, Vol. 2 (London: John Murray, 1871):
385-405. [21 pp.]
Richard Dawkins, “The Long Reach of the Gene,” in The Selfish Gene
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1976): 234-266. [33 pp.]
Irven DeVore, “Interview,” Psychology Today 10/9 (1977): 42-46+ [11 pp.]
Elaine Morgan, “Man-Made Myth,” in The Descent of Woman (New York: Stein and Day, 1972): 113. [13 pp.]
Joan Roughgarden, “Challenging Darwin’s Theory of Sexual Selection,” Daedalus 136/2 (2007):
23-36. [14 pp.]
Marlene Zuk, “Feminism and the Study of Animal Behavior,” BioScience 43/11 (1993): 774-778.
Robert Trivers response, “Deriving Females and Feminism,” BioScience 44/4 (1994): 210.
[6 pp.]
7
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Week Ten – Does a Necessary Conflict Between
Evolution and Religion Exist?
Lecture: Apr 20, Discussion: Apr 25
Readings
Michael Behe, “What Darwinism Can’t Do” in The
Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of
Darwinism (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2007):
84-102. [19 pp.]
Sean Carroll, “God as Genetic Engineer” [review of
Michael Behe’s The Edge of Evolution], Science 316 (8 June 2007): 1427-28. [2 pp.]
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, “Birth of Thought,” in The Phenomenon of Man, trans. Bernard Wall
(New York: Harper & Brothers, 1959): 299-311. [12 pp.]
Dorothy Nelkin, “The Science-Textbook Controversies,” Scientific American 234/4 (April 1976):
33-39, plus letters to the editor that followed in July & October 1976. [10 pp.]
H. G. Wells, Julian Huxley, G.P. Wells, “Selection in Evolution” and “Is There a Mystical
Evolutionary Urge?” in The Science of Life (London: Cassell and Company Ltd., 1931), 364387. [24 pp.]
John B. Conlan and Peter B. Dow, “Pro/Con Forum: The MACOS Controversy,” Social
Education 39/6 (1975): 388-396. [9 pp.]
Second Short Essay Due (Friday, April 21 before 5pm)
Week Eleven – Are Humans ‘Naturally’ Cooperative or Competitive?
Lecture: Apr 27, Discussion: May 2
Readings
Theodosius Dobzhansky, “The Ascent of Man,” Social Biology 19/4 (1972): 367-378. [12 pp.]
Alfred Emerson, “The Biological Basis of Social Cooperation,” Illinois Academy of Sciences
Transactions 39 (1946): 9-18. [10 pp.]
Stephen Jay Gould, “Mickey Mouse Meets Konrad Lorenz,” Natural History 88/5 (1979): 30-36.
[7 pp.]
Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, “Apes on a Plane,” in Mothers and Others: The Evolutionary Origins of Mutual
Understanding (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2011), 1-32. [32 pp.]
John Maynard Smith, “The Evolution of Behavior,” Scientific American 239/3 (1978): 176-192.
[17 pp.]
8
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
Elliott Sober and David Sloan Wilson, “Altruism as a Biological Concept,” in Unto Others: The
Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998),
17-54. [38 pp.]
Robert Trivers, “The Evolutionary Logic of Self-Deception,” in The Folly of Fools: The Logic of
Deceit and Self-Deception in Human Life (New York: Basic Books, 2011): 1-28. [28 pp.]
Topic for Longer Essay Due (Friday, April 28 before 5pm)
Day Twenty-Four – Darwinism, in Retrospect
Lecture & Discussion: May 4
Revisit our first readings of the semester…
Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species by Means of
Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured
Races in the Struggle for Life (London: John Murray,
1859): “Struggle for Existence,” 60-79, “Natural
Selection,” 80-130, and “Recapitulation and
Conclusion,” 459-490.
Longer Essay Due (Dean’s Date before 5pm)
9
His392–HistoryofEvolution
Milam
DepartmentofHistoryGradingPractices
Participation
A student who receives an A for participation in discussion in precepts or seminars typically
comes to every class with questions about the readings in mind. An ‘A’ discussant engages others
about ideas, respects the opinions of others, and consistently elevates the level of discussion.
A student who receives a B for participation in discussion in precepts or seminars typically
does not always come to class with questions about the readings in mind. A ‘B’ discussant waits
passively for others to raise interesting issues. Some discussants in this category, while courteous and
articulate, do not adequately listen to other participants or relate their comments to the direction of
the conversation.
A student who receives a C for discussion in precepts or seminars attends regularly but
typically is an infrequent or unwilling participant in discussion.
A student who fails to attend precepts regularly or to adequately prepare for discussion risks
the grade of D or F.
Papers
An A or A- thesis, paper, or exam is one that is good enough to be read aloud in a class. It is
clearly written and well-organized. It demonstrates that the writer has conducted a close and critical
reading of texts, grappled with the issues raised in the course, synthesized the readings, discussions,
and lectures, and formulated a perceptive, compelling, independent argument. The argument shows
intellectual originality and creativity, is sensitive to historical context, is supported by a well-chosen
variety of specific examples, and, in the case of a research paper, is built on a critical reading of
primary material.
A B+ or B thesis, paper, or exam demonstrates many aspects of A-level work but falls short
of it in either the organization and clarity of its writing, the formulation and presentation of its
argument, or the quality of research. Some papers or exams in this category are solid works
containing flashes of insight into many of the issues raised in the course. Others give evidence of
independent thought, but the argument is not presented clearly or convincingly.
A B- thesis, paper, or exam demonstrates a command of course or research material and
understanding of historical context but provides a less than thorough defense of the writer's
independent argument because of weaknesses in writing, argument, organization, or use of evidence.
A C+, C, or C- thesis, paper, or exam offers little more than a mere a summary of ideas and
information covered in the course, is insensitive to historical context, does not respond to the
assignment adequately, suffers from frequent factual errors, unclear writing, poor organization, or
inadequate primary research, or presents some combination of these problems.
Whereas the grading standards for written work between A and C- are concerned with the
presentation of argument and evidence, a paper or exam that belongs to the D or F categories
demonstrates inadequate command of course material.
A D thesis, paper, or exam demonstrates serious deficiencies or severe flaws in the student's
command of course or research material.
An F thesis, paper, or exam demonstrates no competence in the course or research materials.
It indicates a student’s neglect or lack of effort in the course.
10