Reading Darwin in Arabic, 1860-1950

"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 Kuecuek, 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"