Darwin's Phrases
Words matter. Even in science. When Darwin came up with his theory of evolution, he used the phrase, “natural selection” to describe what was going on. Unfortunately, that phrase led to misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the theory, as his colleague Wallace pointed out. In a letter to Darwin, Wallace wrote that “the term itself (“natural selection”), and your mode of illustrating it, however clear and beautiful to many of us”, was leading to misinterpretation among others. The problem was the word “selection”: some thought it meant there was “thought and direction” involved. Others, esp. those of the religious type, were happy with that prospect: there was a role for God in the theory! Wallace, therefore, suggested that it might be better to switch to a different phrase from that point onwards, including future editions of The Origin of Species . And what could that new term be? Wallace suggested going with the phrase that the philosopher, Herbert Spencer’s phrase ha