Study of a Man, Adam Sedgwick, in 19th Century Britain : People around Darwin

Rev. Adam Sedgwick was one of the geological Great Masters who established modern geology in 19th century Britain. But to students of evolution, he was better known as a mentor of Charles Darwin at Cambridge, responsible taking him on his first geological field trip to Wales. Nevertheless, Sedgwick later strongly opposed the idea of evolution put forward by his former student, and never approved of it till his death. Since then, scientific assessment has been rather negative about Sedgwick seeing him as being conservative and dogmatic in his religious faith. However, he was no simplistic hardhead; rather as he was a central figure working for university reforms at the time, and was both liberal and at times radical, his complexity puzzles us. As for his intransigence against evolution, the author suspects there must have been some underlying reasons for it.\nThis article, by analysing his life, faith and science, investigates how this attractive individual, Adam Sedgwick, made his way through tumultuous 19th century Britain. Throughout his life, Sedgwick always interpreted the contemporary scene shrewdly, and after assessing the situation, would put all his energy into it enthusiastically. His attitude to life eventually made him one of the most prominent men of Cambridge at the time