Lindsey Graham (10:48)
It's June 30, 1860 at Oxford University's Museum of Natural History seven months after the publication of on the Origin of Species, Joseph Dalton Hooker shifts in an uncomfortable library chair and idly examines the room's unpainted walls. The museum only opened this year, and its interiors aren't finished yet. Still, hundreds of scholars have gathered here for the annual conference of the British association for the Advancement of Science, and this year's meeting promises to be a dramatic one. It's the first major event of the scientific calendar since the publication of Charles Darwin's on the Origin of Species, and it's almost the only thing anyone can talk about. Darwin himself isn't here, but he has old friends like Joseph Hooker who are determined to support him and his controversial new theory. It's also Joseph's 43rd birthday today, but there's nowhere he'd rather be than here. Rumors that a debate on evolution will take place later have drawn a large crowd to the library, but first they must all sit through a talk on the history of intellectual development in Europe. The speaker is finally wrapping up when Joseph spots a commotion at the back of the room. The Bishop of Oxford, Samuel Wilberforce, has arrived late and is pushing his way to the front. That seems to be a signal to the speaker to finish his lecture, and soon the presiding officer invites Bishop Wilberforce to address the crowd. Joseph leans back in his chair. If Bishop Wilderforce has come to attack Darwin, then he's ready to defend him. And he's not alone. He's joined in the library by another scientist and champion of Darwin, the anthropologist Thomas Henry Huxley. Together, they listen as Wilberforce speaks. For half an hour, he describes Darwin's arguments and tries to disprove them. In his book, Darwin used hundreds of examples from animal breeders to illustrate how species can change over generations. But Wilberforce insists this only shows how one species cannot be turned into another. No matter how many dogs you breed, you still get a dog. Darwin's work with fossils does not impress him either, with Wilberforce asking where humanity's supposed ancestors are. The earliest known fossils of humans are no different from anyone else in the room right now. He says this proves God's unchanging design, and then finally turns to Joseph and Thomas, asking them sarcastically whether it was their grandfather or their grandmother who was an ape. The bishop's allies in the room roar with laughter, but Joseph and Thomas just shake their heads. Darwin has claimed that illness has prevented him from attending the conference in person, but both suspect this is a convenient half truth. Darwin does not enjoy public debate, preferring to let his work speak for itself. But Joseph and Thomas relish intellectual conflict. When they've come ready for a fight, it's Thomas Huxley who replies to the bishop first. To Joseph's delight, he counters Wilberforce's mockery with a jibe of his own. He says that he would prefer to have an ape for a grandfather than a man who demeans himself and his audience with a joke like that. When Thomas eventually sits, he's rewarded by a sustained round of applause. Next comes a distinguished looking gentleman in his mid-50s, introducing himself as Admiral Robert FitzRoy. 25 years ago, he was the captain of HMS Beagle and considered Charles Darwin a friend. Now, though, he declares that he wishes he had never taken Darwin on board his ship. He says the Bible is the one truth and Darwin's book is pure heresy. Some of Bishop Wilberforce's supporters applaud this, but the reaction from the rest of the crowd is more muted. Not everyone is comfortable hearing Fitzroy's fiery religious speech in what is supposed to be a place of science. Then, finally, it's Joseph's turn. He tells the crowd that he supports Darwin's theory because he believes it is the best explanation he's seen for the wonderful variety of the natural world. But he's not dogmatic. If anyone can offer a stronger hypothesis, then he would be open to it. That is what real scientists do. Then Joseph turns to Bishop Wilberforce, who's sitting with his arms crossed gruffly across his chest. Joseph asks if he's even read the Origin of Species, because if he had, he would know that he has completely, completely misunderstood Darwin's theories and he has proven nothing with his speech. Though Joseph is careful to be civil, he hopes his message is clear. This is a scientific debate, not a theological one, and Bishop Wilderforce is out of his depth. This heated discussion will become known as the Oxford Debate. And by the end of the day, both sides will leave the library convinced that they have won the argument. But the larger controversy over the Origin of Species, which will be far from over. And Charles Darwin will dedicate the rest of his life to defending, refining and rewriting his greatest work. It's April 26, 1882, in Westminster Abbey, London, over two decades after the Oxford debate. Thomas Huxley clenches his jaw as the coffin of his friend Charles Darwin digs into his shoulder. Thomas is one of 10 men who have been given the honor of serving as pallbearers. Marching and step alongside him are not only other scientists, but dukes and earls. In death, Darwin is Being given one of the greatest honours, Britain can bestow burial in London's greatest church, where the great and the good can pay their respects to the man who changed humanity's understanding of the natural world over the last two decades of his life. Despite repeated bouts of illness, Darwin revised and rewrote on the Origin of Species multiple times. Each new version addressed criticisms of the previous one. But though he tried to keep working, his health declined. And in 1882, Darwin finally died of heart disease at the age of 73. Now his funeral procession reaches a grand marble tomb in the heart of Westminster Abbey. It's the resting place of another of Britain's greatest scientists, Sir Isaac Newton. Below it, a space has been opened in the stone floor for Darwin. The pallbearers lower his coffin into the ground and then step back. Thomas Huxley takes his place beside his old debating ally, Joseph Dalton Hooker. They both think being laid to rest beside Newton would please their friend more than all the pomp of the ceremony combined. Because, like Newton, Darwin upended consensus and changed scientific history. Although he was not the first to propose the theory of evolution, and he wasn't the only scientist working on the idea of natural selection in the mid 19th century, it was still his work that defined the debate. And despite the attempts of critics to disprove it, the theory of evolution will come to be accepted by the vast majority of scientists in the decades to come. That's because, thanks to Charles Dawson, science itself evolved after he published his groundbreaking work on the Origin of species on November 24, 1859. Next on History Daily, November 25, 1960. In the Dominican Republic, three siblings are killed by soldiers acting on the orders of the country's president. From Noiser and Airship, this is History Daily. Hosted, edited and executive produced by me, Lindsey Graham. Audio editing by Mohammed Shahzi Sound design by Molly Bond Music by Thrum this episode is written and researched by Samuel Hume. Edited by William Simpson. Managing producer Emily Burke. Executive producers are William Simpson for Airship and Pascal Hughes for Noiser.
