Theory of Evolution: A History of Controversy

Overview

Course No. 174

Charles Darwin’s theory of organic evolution – the idea that life on earth is the product of purely natural causes – set off shock waves that continue to reverberate through Western society. These 12 eye-opening lectures examine why evolution remains both scientifically convincing yet socially and politically divisive.

Professor Larson leads you through the “evolution” of evolutionary thought, from pre-Darwinian theories to modern controversies. You’ll explore:

• Early scientific challenges to biblical creation stories
• Darwin’s revolutionary ideas and their immediate impact
• The development of evolutionary science after Darwin
• Religious objections from Darwin’s time to today’s creationism debates

Richly detailed yet accessible, these lectures offer invaluable perspective on one of modern science’s most significant – and controversial – ideas.

Video Lectures

01: Before Darwin (31 min)

Examine pre-Darwinian theories of origins, including Georges Cuvier’s catastrophism – the leading scientific explanation during Darwin’s youth that proposed successive creations after catastrophic events.

02: Evolution in the Air (31 min)

Discover how 19th-century fossil discoveries and Charles Lyell’s geological theories created an intellectual environment ripe for evolutionary thinking before Darwin published his work.

03: Darwin’s Inspiration (31 min)

Follow Darwin’s transformative voyage on the HMS Beagle and his development of evolutionary theory, including the dramatic moment when Alfred Wallace independently conceived similar ideas.

04: An Intellectual Revolution (31 min)

Analyze the paradigm-shifting impact of “On the Origin of Species” and “Descent of Man,” which made natural explanations, rather than divine creation, central to understanding life’s diversity.

05: Debates over Mechanism (31 min)

Explore how late 19th-century scientists accepted evolution while questioning natural selection, developing alternative theories that softened evolution’s challenge to traditional beliefs.

06: Missing Links (31 min)

Investigate the late 19th-century hunt for transitional fossils that captured public imagination and helped popularize evolutionary theory through dramatic discoveries.

07: Genetics Enters the Picture (31 min)

Learn how Gregor Mendel’s forgotten work on inheritance, rediscovered in 1900, provided crucial missing pieces for understanding evolutionary mechanisms.

08: Social Darwinism and Eugenics (31 min)

Examine the controversial application of evolutionary concepts to society, including the eugenics movement that sought to control human reproduction based on genetic fitness.

09: America’s Anti-Evolution Crusade (30 min)

Study the 1920s fundamentalist backlash against evolution education, culminating in the famous Scopes “Monkey Trial” that became a national spectacle.

10: The Neo-Darwinian Synthesis (30 min)

Understand how 20th-century scientists combined Darwinian selection with Mendelian genetics to create our modern understanding of evolutionary mechanisms.

11: Scientific Creationism (30 min)

Trace the development of creationist challenges to evolution education, from the 1950s through attempts to present creationism as legitimate science.

12: Selfish Genes and Intelligent Design (30 min)

Explore contemporary evolutionary debates including sociobiology’s “selfish gene” theory and the intelligent design movement’s challenge to Darwinian explanations.