Darwin’s Ghosts by Rebecca Stott shows how Darwinian evolution was built on a grand ancestry of ideas
WHEN Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, he probably did not expect to be taken to task for plagiarising Aristotle. Yet the ancient philosopher was just one of several dozen men who Darwin was compelled to credit with anticipating evolution as his ideas spread and his originality was questioned.
As Rebecca Stott shows in Darwin’s Ghosts, he partly brought it on himself. Having outlined a “historical sketch” of scientific forebears, Darwin put off publishing it with the first edition for…
