Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1861-1864

Since its appearance in 1859, Darwin''s long-awaited treatise in "genetic biology" had received reviews both favorable and damning. Thomas Huxley and Samuel Wilberforce presented arguments for and against the theory in a dramatic and widely publicized face-off at the 1860 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science in Oxford. Their encounter sparked a vigorous, complex debate...