JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
This busy and crowded side-of-a-building display of advertising added to the confusion of these two passers-by, the older woman no doubt thinking that the younger woman was connecting the monkey and the “Adam and Eve” play, as though making a connection between Adam/monkey, when in fact they just happened to be closely-placed adverts that had nothing to do with one another. I guess the magazine that published this bit, Punch (in London on May 4, 1878, just a few years before Darwin’s death and 19 years after the Origin first edition) wanted to have a go at how easily Darwin could be misunderstood, especially those who were willing to make big leaps of faith with no foundation of understanding, equating in their creationist ways that with Darwin Adam & Eve were monkeys, or some such.. Or maybe it was something else…
