Conceiving God

David Lewis-Williams

The accusation followed the publication of two of the most contentious books ever written – On the Origin of Species (1859), and The Descent of Man (1871), the first detailing Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection and the second applying it to the human species.

The debate that was sparked by these books is emblematic of the science-versus-religion controversy, still so much a feature of contemporary culture, fuelled latterly by books such as The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins, and The End of Faith, by Sam Harris.