1860 Oxford evolution debate [SEP] point in time
1860 Oxford evolution debate
The 1860 Oxford evolution debate took place at the Oxford University Museum in Oxford, England, on 30 June 1860, seven months after the publication of Charles Darwin's "On the Origin of Species". Several prominent British scientists and philosophers participated, including Thomas Henry Huxley, Bishop Samuel Wilberforce, Benjamin Brodie, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Robert FitzRoy.
The debate is best remembered today for a heated exchange in which Wilberforce supposedly asked Huxley whether it was through his grandfather or his grandmother that he claimed
last ten days of the stay, he felt much better. He returned home on 7 December, and under pressure of work, his health slipped back a bit.
As arguments continued, Darwin had more stomach upsets, and on 28 June 1860, two days before the famous 1860 Oxford evolution debate, he fled to Lane's new hydropathic establishment at Sudbrooke Park, Petersham, near Richmond in Surrey and recuperated as well as reading reports of the debate.
Darwin avoided further hydropathy, perhaps recalling his time at Ilkley