W R Thompson on The Origin of Species.

The following are selected quotes from the Introduction of The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (published by J. M. Dent & Sons, EVERYMAN’S LIBRARY, London and New York, 1956). The Introduction was written by Professor W. R. Thompson then Director of the Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control, Ottawa. Although Professor Thompson registered his misgivings over Darwinism to the publishers, because of his recognised standing in the world as a scientist the publishers gave him complete freedom in writing the preface to Darwin’s, The Origin of Species. Go into a search engine on the internet and one can see how often he is quoted and what authority he carries in his field of science, biology.

“I do not contest the fact that the advent of the evolutionary idea, due mainly to the Origin, very greatly stimulated biological research. But it appears to me that owing precisely to the nature of the stimulus, a great deal of this work was directed into unprofitable channels or devoted to the pursuit of will-o’- the-wisps. I am not the only biologist of this opinion. Darwin’s conviction that evolution is the result of natural selection, acting on small fortuitous variations, says Guyenot, was to delay the progress of investigations on evolution by half a century. Really fruitful researches on heredity did not begin until the rediscovery in 1900 of the fundamental work of Mendel, published in 1865 and owing nothing to the work of Darwin. Introduction to The Origin of Species 6th Edition (1956) p. xx.”

“A long-enduring and regrettable effect of the success of the Origin was the addiction of biologists to unverifiable speculations. 'Explanations' of the origin of structures, instincts, and mental aptitudes of all kinds, in terms of Darwinian principles, marked with Darwinian possibility but hopelessly unverifiable poured out from every research centre. Introduction to The Origin of Species 6th Edition (1956) p.xxi.”

“The success of Darwinism was accompanied by a decline in scientific integrity. This is already evident in the reckless statements of Haeckel and in the shifting, devious and histrionic argumentation of T. H. Huxley.”

Introduction to The Origin of Species 6th Edition (1956) p. xxi To read more . . .

Revised 20/07/07