A book of biology over a century old can't be cutting edge. You know that, I know that. Even the author, who aimed to synthesize the knowledge of his time under the over-arching theory evolution, knew that knowledge would evolve after him. Progress in the sciences and philosophy doesn't stand still.

Still! Yes, still, this is an important book. Anyone interested in evolutionary theory, the philosophy of life, or the history of ideas in the 19th century should read this treatise from the second half of that century. It is not only charming, it still has some chance to "blow your mind."

He begins with what was known of the chemistry of organic matter at that time. He then goes one to define life, and . . . well, there's a lot here. After two internal sections, on the Data and Inductions of Biology respectively, Spencer than adds a section on "The Evolution of Life." After some appendices, that concludes the first volume.

The second volume tackles morphological and physiological development. Then it concludes with "The Laws of Multiplcation," Spencer's mature view of population theory that started his whole evolutionary obsession in the early 1850s, and where he first broached the idea he dubbed "the survival of the fittest."

I need to reread these books. I'm one of those people who likes Spencer's prose. It was, as Mark Twain argued, perfectly suited to explaining natural processes. This, the book that is probably least read of the Synthetic Philosophy, still bears reading today, even if partly or even mainly for "historical" reasons. ( )