Thomas Huxley
Thomas Henry Huxley, also known as "Darwin's Bulldog," was a British biologist and an adamant supporter of evolution. He popularized the field of science and wanted to prove that man was related to the apes. Interestingly enough, he did not accept many of Charles Darwin's other ideas, such as gradualism (that evolution occurs only as slight modifications over many generations).
Huxley himself coined the term agnosticism to describe his "religious" point of view. Another interesting point is that Huxley supported the Bible being taught in schools because he believed that it was a good moral law and was valuable to English ethics.
Huxley is also known for a famous debate in 1860, with Archbishop Samuel Wilberforce. Huxley went on to give a brilliant defense of Darwin's theory when the Archbishop asked him on which side he had an ape on, his grandmother or his grandfather. Huxley defended with these lines: "I would rather have apes on both sides than be a man that was afraid to face the truth." Huxley was one that would confront the issue of human evolution, Darwin did not discuss this topic in his book for fear that no one would accept his theory on the grounds that humans did not want to be descended from apes.
Publications
- Thomas Huxley Quotes by BrainyMedia
- Agnosticism By Prof. Thomas H. Huxley (From "The Nineteenth Century," February, 1889.)
- Agnosticism: A Rejoiner By Prof. Thomas H. Huxley (From "The Nineteenth Century," April, 1889.)
- The Value of Witness to the Miraculous. By Prof. Thomas H. Huxley (From "The Nineteenth Century," March, 1889.)
- Agnosticism and Christianity. By Prof. Thomas H. Huxley (From "The Nineteenth Century," June, 1889.)
References
- Thomas Henry Huxley by Wikipedia
- Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895) Biography by the University of Berkeley Museum of Paleontology
See Also
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