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

Part of the Reacting to the Past series, Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism thrusts students into the intellectual ferment of Victorian England just after publication of The Origin of Species.

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 that touched on a host of issues and set the stage for the Royal Society’s consideration of whether or not they ought to award Darwin the Copley Medal, the society’s most prestigious prize. While the action takes place in meetings of the Royal Society, Great Britain’s most important scientific body, a parallel and influential public argument smoldered over the nature of science and its relationship to modern life in an industrial society.

A significant component of the Darwin game is the tension between natural and teleological views of the world, manifested especially in reconsideration of the design argument, commonly known through William Paley’s Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802) and updated by Wilberforce. But the scientific debate also percolated through a host of related issues: the meaning and purposes of inductive and hypothetical speculation in science; the professionalization of science; the implications of Darwinism for social reform, racial theories, and women’s rights; and the evolving concept of causation in sciences and its implications for public policy. Because of the revolutionary potential of Darwin’s ideas, the connections between science and nearly every other aspect of culture became increasingly evident. Scientific papers and laboratory demonstrations presented in Royal Society meetings during the game provide the backdrop for momentous conflict, conflict that continues to shape our perceptions of modern science.

Reacting to the Past is a series of historical role-playing games that explore important ideas by re-creating the contexts that shaped them. Students are assigned roles, informed by classic texts, set in particular moments of intellectual and social ferment. 

An award-winning active-learning pedagogy, Reacting to the Past improves speaking, writing, and leadership skills, promotes engagement with classic texts and history, and builds learning communities. Reacting can be used across the curriculum, from the first-year general education class to “capstone” experiences. A Reacting game can also function as the discussion component of lecture classes, or it can be enlisted for intersession courses, honors programs, and other specialized curricular purposes.

Marsha Driscoll is professor and chair of psychology at Bemidji State University, where she is also director of the Honors Program. Her scholarly interests include the nature and role of cognitive and affective empathy, adult development, and the interdisciplinary connections of psychology to the other social sciences, humanities, and natural sciences.

Elizabeth E. Dunn is the dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and professor of history at Indiana University South Bend. Her main area of scholarly interest is American intellectual history, particularly value conflicts raised by issues such as paper money and itinerant ministers, but recently she has spent a lot of time trying to figure out what makes a university tick.

Dann Siems was assistant professor of biology at Bemidji State University. His research interests included the natural history of fishes, phenotypic plasticity in life history theory, relationship of ontogeny to phylogeny, history, and philosophy of biology, role of behavior and cognition in evolution, and evolutionary psychology. Charles Darwin, the Copley Medal, and the Rise of Naturalism, 1861-1864 is dedicated to his memory.

B. Kamran Swanson is assistant professor of philosophy at Harold Washington College in the Chicago area. His studies have focused on the philosophy of Benedict Spinoza and other seventeenth-century philosophers.