Marwa Elshakry is associate professor in the Department of History at Columbia University, where she specializes in the history of science, technology, and medicine in the modern Middle East. She lives in New York.
"A novel and important contribution to our understanding of the
globalization of science in the nineteenth century. Marwa
Elshakry's study will appeal not only to scholars of the modern
intellectual and political history of the Middle East but also to
an audience in the history of science, especially those working on
imperial and colonial histories of science."
--Timothy Mitchell, author of Colonising Egypt
"A tour de force, this book moves on a spectacular trajectory from
Darwin's original texts to their translation, interpretation, and
contestation in zones that remain terra incognita to most scholars
today. Elshakry shows for the first time how science-and-religion
issues that still agitate Americans were first brought to Ottoman
Syria and Egypt by Americans themselves--and, tellingly, she points
up multiple ironies in the creative and often unexpected ways in
which evolutionary ideas were appropriated by Muslims and
Christians alike. To an age obsessed by 'the clash of
civilizations, ' Reading Darwin in Arabic will be revelatory."
--James Moore, coauthor of Darwin and Darwin's Sacred Cause
"This pathbreaking book opens up a new world of understanding about
the encounters of science in an era of imperial rivalries and
nationalist ambitions. Following networks of travel, print, and
translation across the Arabic-speaking world, Marwa Elshakry not
only brings to life a vibrant intellectual culture too little known
in the West but also illuminates contemporary global debates about
tradition, faith, and evolutionary science."
--James A. Secord, University of Cambridge
"A fresh perspective on the reception of Darwinism. While the title
of her book suggests a focus on the impact of Darwin's Origins of
Species on Arabic readers, it is, in fact, a work relevant to
anyone interested in the reception of scientific ideas on a global
scale. . . . A solid contribution to knowledge, and one that will
remain a cornerstone of the intellectual history of the Arabic
reading world."--Andrew Bednarski, Gonville and Caius College
"Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical
Sciences"
"Elshakry's Reading Darwin in Arabic is a tour-de-force. Without
question, Elshakry has made an invaluable contribution to the
global and cultural histories of decolonization."Maurice Jr. M.
Labelle (University of Saskatchewan)--Maurice Jr. M. Labelle,
University of Saskatchewan "H-Net"
"Elshakry's book is a remarkable feat of scholarship that builds on
an impressive base of sources. . . . I believe Reading Darwin in
Arabic will serve as a beacon of insight and inspiration for
scholars of the Middle East and historians of modern
science."--Harun Küçük, Max Planck Institute for the History of
Science "Science"
"Rewarding. . . . Reading Darwin in Arabic is about more than its
title suggests. It describes the intellectual ferment in Egypt as
the country grappled both with Darwinism and colonial rule, and an
Islamic liberalism shone briefly before being all but extinguished
by the brutal ideologies of the twentieth century."--Christopher de
Bellaigue "New York Review of Books"
"With the limited scholarship focusing on science translation
between the Global North and the Global South, Elshakry's Reading
Darwin in Arabic is a much welcome contribution to the existing
literature on the globalization, translation and popularization of
science, especially in colonial and postcolonial contexts. Reading
Darwin is an invaluable resource for historians of science and
intellectual historians of the Middle East. It is also a crucial
contribution to science-and-religion studies."--Soha Bayoumi,
Harvard University "Endeavour"
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
