History
The term "Epic of Evolution" seems to have been first used by Harvard biologist Edward O. Wilson in 1978. He was using 'myth' as a grand narrative that provides a people with a meaningful placement in time, not as a falsehood. Wilson was not the first to use the term but his prominence prompted its usage as the morphed phrase 'epic of evolution'. In later years he also used the latter term.
Naturalistic and liberal religious writers have picked up on Wilson's term and have used it in a number of texts. These authors however have at times used other terms to refer to the idea: Universe Story (Brian Swimme, John F. Haught), Great Story (Connie Barlow, Michael Dowd), Everybody's Story (Loyal Rue), New Story (Thomas Berry, Al Gore, Brian Swimme) and Cosmic Evolution (Eric Chaisson).
Read more about this topic: Epic Of Evolution
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“The basic idea which runs right through modern history and modern liberalism is that the public has got to be marginalized. The general public are viewed as no more than ignorant and meddlesome outsiders, a bewildered herd.”
—Noam Chomsky (b. 1928)
“Indeed, the Englishman’s history of New England commences only when it ceases to be New France.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)