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During the English civil war, while in hiding and bored, Archbishop James Ussher attempted to determine the exact date of creation. Ten years later, he confidently announced that the world was only 6,000 years old and was created on a Saturday night in October 4004BC. However, his estimation was inaccurate as new scientific research suggests that the Earth was actually formed 4.6 billion years ago.

As a resident of Ulster’s religiously conservative region, historian Michael Taylor explains that Ussher’s chronology was viewed with great regional pride. However, back in his hometown, the book Impossible Monsters may not be well-received as it delves into the challenges to Ussher’s beliefs in the 19th century by Charles Lyell’s geology and Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution.

In 1811, a 12-year-old girl named Mary Anning stumbled upon the fossilized remains of an ichthyosaur, a prehistoric sea creature with large eye sockets and a curved snout, along the coast of Dorset. While history remembers her with a catchy rhyme about selling seashells, the discovery had significant implications at the time and was considered heretical. It challenged the belief that all species were created by God and could not go extinct, as it contradicted the biblical story of Noah’s ark.

In 1824, there was a better understanding when William Buckland, a clergyman, disclosed that the huge “Scrotum humanum” found in Oxfordshire in the 17th century was not the genitalia of an exceptionally tall person. Instead, it was the leg bone of a megalosaurus. However, since he taught at Oxford, a place known for its ignorant teachers consuming large quantities of port, Buckland had to be careful not to offend his colleagues, who were prominent Anglicans.

Taylor’s book extensively discusses the fascinating revival of Victorian thinking during the early 19th century. He effectively illustrates the challenges faced by science in a society heavily dominated by religious beliefs. In the 1830s, the Oxford movement gained immense popularity, with clergy members adopting Catholic practices and incorporating flamboyant elements of Roman liturgy. This movement aimed at reversing the negative effects of the Reformation and dismissing Whigs as radical and out of touch, while also dismissing the importance of science and the abolition of slavery as trendy and baseless.

Nevertheless, the mounting evidence was becoming impossible to overlook. Even the traditionally cautious Charles Lyell, a lawyer-turned-geologist, made it obvious that science would ultimately come out on top. His “aha” moment occurred as he observed the eroded columns of the Macellum of Pozzuoli, located near Naples. The layers of decay in the columns revealed a history of fluctuating ocean levels, leading Lyell to the realization that geological change was a gradual and continuous process, rather than the sudden events described in the Bible.

Lyell’s groundbreaking discovery led him to become the professor of geology at King’s College London, which was specifically founded as a religious alternative to the secular University College London. Furthermore, he published a highly accessible book, Principles of Geology (1830), which brought science to the public and away from its elitist connotations.

Lyell made significant contributions to the study of geology, paralleling Darwin’s impact on the field of biology. In 1838, Darwin’s thinking took an unconventional turn when he witnessed the abilities of Jenny, a famous orangutan at the London Zoo who could drink tea from a cup and act as a gentleman’s companion. Twenty years later, Darwin dealt a second blow to Ussher’s theory with the publication of his work, “On the Origin of Species.”

Impossible Monsters displays a vast scope of talent. Taylor, a previous victor on the show University Challenge, is part of the select group of authors who can effortlessly explore both scientific mysteries and intellectual movements. This book contains thought-provoking passages, including his assertion that the triumph of phrenology, a now discredited science centered on skull shapes, unknowingly paved the way for the emergence of other rebellious concepts like Darwinian evolution.

The author deserves praise for occasionally leading us away from lofty ideals and showing us how regular individuals interpret monumental advancements in thought. For instance, during the exhibit of model dinosaurs at Crystal Palace, a proud visitor declared that their extinction was due to their inability to fit onto the Ark, thus leading to their demise.

Source: theguardian.com