But such a set of general ideas is a long way from a research program. In the first half century of the post-Darwinian world, cosmic evolution did not find fertile ground among astronomers who were hard-pressed to find evidence for it. Spec…Whether intelligence is rare or abundant, whether extraterrestrial life is of a lower order or a higher order than Homo sapiens, human destiny is intimately connected with cosmic evolution. Driven by the astronomical, biological, and cultur…7. On Lowell as Spencerian, and as influenced by Spencer’s American disciple John Fiske, see David Strauss, Percival Lowell: The Culture and Science of a Boston Brahmin (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2001), pp. 97–165.
8. W. W. …
George Ellery Hale
scientist · 3 mentions across 1 reading
In this course
George Ellery Hale appears as a passing reference in a footnote concerning Percival Lowell's engagement with Spencerian evolutionary thought and cosmic evolution in early twentieth-century astronomy. The excerpt suggests Hale figures within discussions of how astronomical observation and spectroscopy were mobilized to theorize cosmic and cultural evolution, though his specific argumentative role in the readings remains underdeveloped in the provided fragments.
Mentioned in 1 reading
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People mentioned in the same passages — sorted by co-occurrence weight.
Percival Lowell 3Charles Darwin 2Herbert Spencer 2John Fiske 2David DeVorkin 2Norman Lockyer 1William Herschel 1Alfred Russel Wallace 1Charles H. Smith 1David Strauss 1George Beccaloni 1Helge Kragh 1June Goodfield 1Michael Shermer 1Stephen Toulmin 1Steven J. Dick 1William Wallace Campbell 1Ann Druyan 1Carl Sagan 1David Morrison 1Freeman Dyson 1