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Professor of the History of Science  has been awarded a Leverhulme Trust major research fellowship to explore how different groups, from mothers and progressive activists to spiritual thinkers, interpreted and used Darwin’s ideas. This research will shed new light on how scientific ideas shape culture, past and present.

Jim's project, Darwinian Fans: Reading, Responding to, and Reimagining Evolution, challenges the traditional view that science spreads only through experts and education. Instead, he reveals how people outside the scientific community, including many women, creatively adapted Darwin’s theories to fit their own beliefs.

The research builds on themes from his recently published book, The Arrival of the Fittest, which studies how an early 20th-century idea, Mutation Theory, captured the public imagination. These ideas helped shape stories that still resonate today, from Brave New World by Aldous Huxley to the X-Men movies.

Jim shared, “As a historian of science, I have always been fascinated by understanding how science becomes part of public conversations and beliefs, given that most of us don’t understand very much about science."

We cannot wait to see what comes from this fascinating research project. Congratulations, Jim!