Creation and extinction: The geological background to the initial American reception of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species

On the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (1809–1882) was published in 1859 in England and in 1860 in the United States. Its relatively positive initial reception in the United States was facilitated by a number of factors including the prominence of geology among the sciences, the high standing of Darwin with James Dwight Dana (1813–1895), and common knowledge about geology among many non-geologists. As indicated by the example of Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), knowledge of a long duration for the Earth and of the fact of species extinction was taken for granted. At the level of elite science, knowledge of geological concepts was also widespread, as indicated by the example of Joseph Henry (1797–1878), first Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Instructed in geology not only by Amos Eaton (1776–1842) but also by the lectures of Charles Lyell (1797–1875), Henry proved a well-placed advocate for giving Darwin's book a fair hearing. In doing so Henry allied himself with the Harvard botanist Asa Gray (1810–1888). The fact that Darwin's Origin was published at a time of high political tension in the United States added to the drama: the opponent of evolution Louis Agassiz (1807–1873) engaged Gray, the proponent of evolution, on numerous grounds both intellectual and institutional. Further, vocabulary during the period moved back and forth across scientific and political contexts, as suggested by varied applications of the word “extinction.”