Editing Darwinism (section)

==Terminology==
''Darwinism'' subsequently referred to the specific concepts of natural selection, the [[Weismann barrier]], or the [[central dogma of molecular biology]].<ref name="antidarwinian">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/anti-darwin.html |title=So You Want to be an Anti-Darwinian: Varieties of Opposition to Darwinism |last=Wilkins |first=John |date=21 December 1998 |website=[[TalkOrigins Archive]] |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref> Though the term usually refers strictly to biological evolution, [[creationism|creationists]] have appropriated it to refer to the [[abiogenesis|origin of life]] or to [[Physical cosmology|cosmic evolution]], that are distinct to biological evolution,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Bleckmann|first=Charles A.|date=2006-02-01|title=Evolution and Creationism in Science: 1880–2000|journal=BioScience|language=en|volume=56|issue=2|pages=151–158|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2006)056[0151:EACIS]2.0.CO;2|issn=0006-3568|doi-access=free}}</ref> and therefore consider it to be the belief and acceptance of Darwin's and of his predecessors' work, in place of other concepts, including [[Teleological argument|divine design]] and [[Panspermia|extraterrestrial origins]].<ref name="EOflunks">{{cite web |url=http://expelledexposed.drupalgardens.com/contest/on-what-evolution-explains |title=...on what evolution explains |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |website=Expelled Exposed |publisher=[[National Center for Science Education]] |location=Oakland, CA |access-date=2015-11-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025112923/http://expelledexposed.drupalgardens.com/contest/on-what-evolution-explains |archive-date=25 October 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="GalacticDarwinism">{{cite press release |last1=Le Fèvre |first1=Olivier |last2=Marinoni |first2=Christian |date=6 December 2006 |title=Do Galaxies Follow Darwinian Evolution? |url=https://www.eso.org/public/news/eso0645/ |location=Marseille, France |publisher=[[European Southern Observatory]] |id=eso0645 |access-date=2015-11-15}}</ref>

English biologist [[Thomas Henry Huxley]] coined the term ''Darwinism'' in April 1860.<ref name="westminster">{{cite journal |last=Huxley |first=T.H. |author-link=Thomas Henry Huxley |date=April 1860 |title=ART. VIII.—Darwin on the Origin of Species |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=side&itemID=A32&pageseq=29 |journal=[[Westminster Review]] |type=Book review |location=London |publisher=Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy |volume=17 |pages=541–570 |access-date=2008-06-19 |quote=What if the orbit of Darwinism should be a little too circular?}}</ref> It was used to describe evolutionary concepts in general, including earlier concepts published by English philosopher [[Herbert Spencer]]. Many of the proponents of Darwinism at that time, including Huxley, had reservations about the significance of natural selection, and Darwin himself gave credence to what was later called [[Lamarckism]]. The strict [[neo-Darwinism]] of German evolutionary biologist [[August Weismann]] gained few supporters in the late 19th century. During the approximate period of the 1880s to about 1920, sometimes called "[[the eclipse of Darwinism]]", scientists proposed various [[Alternatives to Darwinism|alternative evolutionary mechanisms]] which eventually proved untenable.  The development of the [[Modern synthesis (20th century)|modern synthesis]] in the early 20th century, incorporating natural selection with [[population genetics]] and [[Mendelian inheritance|Mendelian genetics]], revived Darwinism in an updated form.<ref name="b222">{{harvnb|Bowler|2003|pp=179, 222–225, 338–339, 347}}</ref>

While the term ''Darwinism'' has remained in use amongst the public when referring to modern evolutionary theory, it has increasingly been argued by science writers such as [[Olivia Judson]], [[Eugenie Scott]], and [[Carl Safina]] that it is an inappropriate term for modern evolutionary theory.<ref name="Scott Branch 09">{{cite journal |last1=Scott |first1=Eugenie C. |author-link1=Eugenie Scott |last2=Branch |first2=Glenn |author-link2=Glenn Branch |date=16 January 2009 |title=Don't Call it 'Darwinism' |journal=Evolution: Education and Outreach |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |location=New York |volume=2 |issue=1 |pages=90–94 |doi=10.1007/s12052-008-0111-2 |issn=1936-6426|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Judson |first=Olivia |author-link=Olivia Judson |date=15 July 2008 |title=Let's Get Rid of Darwinism |url=http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/lets-get-rid-of-darwinism/ |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2015-11-16 |archive-date=5 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171105044340/https://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/15/lets-get-rid-of-darwinism/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Safina |first=Carl |author-link=Carl Safina |date=9 February 2009 |title=Darwinism Must Die So That Darwin May Live |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/science/10essa.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]  |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=2020-10-07}}</ref> For example, Darwin was unfamiliar with the work of the [[Moravia]]n scientist and [[Augustinians|Augustinian]] [[friar]] [[Gregor Mendel]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sclater|first=Andrew|date=June 2006|title=The extent of Charles Darwin's knowledge of Mendel|journal=[[Journal of Biosciences]]|location=Bangalore, India|publisher=[[Indian Academy of Sciences]] / Springer India|volume=31|issue=2|pages=191–193|doi=10.1007/BF02703910|issn=0250-5991|pmid=16809850|s2cid=860470}}<!--|access-date=2009-01-03--></ref> and as a result had only a vague and inaccurate understanding of [[heredity]]. He naturally had no inkling of later theoretical developments and, like Mendel himself, knew nothing of [[genetic drift]], for example.<ref name="GeneticDrift">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/genetic-drift.html |title=Random Genetic Drift |last=Moran |first=Laurence |date=22 January 1993 |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-27}}</ref><ref name="whatis">{{cite web |url=http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/darwinism.html |title=What is Darwinism? |last=Hanes |first=Joel |website=TalkOrigins Archive |publisher=The TalkOrigins Foundation, Inc. |location=Houston, TX |access-date=2008-06-19}}</ref>

In the United States and to some extent in the United Kingdom, [[creationist]]s often use the term "Darwinism" as a [[pejorative]] term in reference to beliefs such as [[Metaphysical naturalism|scientific materialism]].<ref name="Scott Branch 09" />