The Reverend William Whewell, a lithographed sketch made by Fiddis 1835, printed by Sirel. Whewell was a polymath and leading light at Cambridge


The Reverend William Whewell, a lithographed sketch made by Fiddis 1835, printed by Sirel. Whewell was a polymath and leading light at Cambridge during Darwin's time there. Darwin recalled in his autobiography walking home with him from Professor Henslow's study on various occasions. He is said to have been an intimidating figure to the undergraduates. His \Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences\" was a highly influential work on the method of science. Whewell also coined such words as \"scientist\", \"cathode\" and \"anode\" and his interests spanned many disciplines. He was an opponent of evolution however, his \"Indications of the Creator\" (1845) expressly aimed to undo the harm the popularity of Chamber's \"Vestiges of Creation\" was seen to have done. Whewell opposed Darwin's theory of evolution and wrote politely to say so upon receipt of a complimentary copy in January 1860."


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Keywords: 19th, artwork, british, cambridge, century, darwin, human, illustration, inductive, mineralogy, people, person, philosopher, physicist, polymath, reasoning, reverend, science, scientist, undergraduate, university, vestiges, whewell