Winston Churchill Writes His Publisher About His Science Writing, and His Article on Evolution - “The River of Life” : Churchill was a Darwinian, and in the article maintains that humans are simply a natural product of Darwinian evolution

Churchill was keenly interested in science, and was the first British prime minister to hire a science advisor; no other prime minister had done more for science, technology and innovation

 

This is our first Churchill letter relating to his science writing

Winston Churchill’s main source of income was not his salary as a Member of Parliament, but as an author. He was a journalist as early as the mid-1890s, and then reported from captivity during the Boer War. As a serving MP he began publishing pamphlets containing his speeches or answers to key parliamentary questions. Beginning with Mr Winston Churchill on the Education Bill (1902), over 135 such tracts were published over his career. He wrote 43 book length works in 72 volumes, including his 6-volume history of the Second World War. His first book was printed in 1898, and the last in 1958, a remarkable span of 60 years. Four of the works were fiction, showing the breadth of his writing genius. There were 28 books published containing collections of his speeches. He also wrote some 10,000 articles for newspapers and magazines over a period of decades on a broad variety of subjects.

In many cases, these newspaper articles were for-hire, commissioned by such publications as Colliers, News of the World, the Daily Mail, and the Sunday Dispatch. The News of the World was so fond of his work that from 1936 and 1939, they paid him £400 for article, which would be £12,000 (or over $15,000 ) in today’s money. Quite a sum to pay a columnist during the Depression, and enough to keep Churchill enjoying his Pol Roger champagne and Romeo y Julieta brand cigars. Major Percy Davies was director of the News of the World, and Sir Emsley Carr was the editor in the 1930s. When Carr died in 1941 Davies ascended to the editorial position. It was with these men that Churchill dealt.

In 1936, Churchill contracted to write a series on “Great Men I Have Known”, and he the News of the World executives discussed subjects. Articles were written by Churchill on Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, Admiral Fisher of World War I note, King George V, General Sir John French, General Douglas Haig who was the senior British commander during World War I, Prime Minister Herbert Asquith, Lord Curzon, Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and Georges Clemenceau, among others.

In April of that year Churchill wrote Davies with another idea, a way to continue and expand the concept. His new idea: “Great Men of All Time,” and included a list of proposed subjects. He encouraged Davies to “pick a dozen of these names…and add any that occur to you. I would then make a further suggestion.” Articles would then be written on these historical figures. The list the two men agreed upon contained 27 names, some likely added by Davies as additions to Churchill’s list. The articles ran in 1936-1937. The great men were: “Confucius, Buddha, Mahomet, St. Patrick, St. Francis, Julius Caesar, Hadrian, Marcus Aurelius; Plato, Aristotle, Alcibiades, Alexander, Cicero, Demosthenes, Solomon, St. Paul, Homer and Moses, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Charlemagne, Pope Innocent III, Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, and Napoleon. This list gives you a profound idea of Churchill’s most admired figures in history.

In the Spring of 1938, Churchill wrote for the News of the World, not on men but events. Like “How Wars of the Future will be Waged”, on the importance of machine-guns and tanks in World War I, the need for foresight and initiative amongst generals, and the importance of air power in a future conflict; ""Future Safeguards of National Defense”, on the importance of the Navy to national defense, the German submarine campaign in World War I, and the threat of air attacks on ships. Later in 1938, he wrote articles some of which would appear in 1939, such as, “Our Rule Britannia Office of State"" on the history and structure of the Admiralty, his experience of it during World War I, the replacement of coal-driven ships with oil-powered, and praise for the Navy, ""The Cinderella of Our Fighting Services"" on the War Office, ""Will There Be War in Europe - and When?"" on the nature of the Nazi and Italian regimes, their financial needs, the growth of the German army and munitions program, and the state of the RAF; ""Air Bombing is No Road to World Domination"" on the experience of World War I, Air Raid Precautions, the strength of the RAF, the Spanish Civil War, evacuation and French precautions. In late 1938, he wrote “Memories of Parliament as a Novitiate Member"" on the thrill of being an MP, features of the House of Commons, the gulf between the parties in the early years of the century, Joseph Chamberlain, the Free Trade debate, Charles Parnell and the flogging of soldiers; ""On Making a Maiden Speech in the House"" and the effect of the Irish Nationalists. These articles give you an insight into the historical and political issues of importance.

Being the Renaissance man that he was, Churchill was keenly interested in science as well as politics. He was the first British prime minister to hire a science advisor, and no other prime minister did more for science, technology and innovation. In late 1938, he wrote articles on science intended for publication in 1939. These were on extraterrestrial life in the universe, the human body, and evolution (what Churchill called “the river of life”). They would not be completed until the 1950s, and did not run at the time. They would be not be discovered until 2017.

“The River of Life” was a 14-page typewritten manuscript, and was devoted to the evolution of life on Earth. The article showed that Churchill had a superb grasp of the big picture, and his views were not colored by any nonscientific arguments or sentiments. Churchill starts his brief description of life's history with an account of how the Earth itself formed, cooled down, and settled into the relatively quiescent state which allowed life to take root. Next, Churchill demonstrates a familiarity with the idea that plate tectonics (continental drift) was responsible for the generation of mountain chains. After these preliminaries, he arrives at the main topic of life on Earth. Here he starts with the important observation, “How life came into being is still a complete mystery."" Life on Earth, he realizes, could not work without a reliable energy source. After a brief description of photosynthesis, emphasizing the importance of chlorophyll in this process, Churchill concludes in his wonderfully colorful language that, ""the struggle for life in the case of plants is reduced to a struggle for light, and in any forest we can see them jostling one another in their endeavors to get the best positions."" All of this, he realizes, could not work without a reliable energy source. So to the very basic ingredients, he is quick to add ""the most important of the lot—sunshine.""

Churchill demonstrates a remarkable comprehension of all of these concepts, and is clearly a Darwinian. In fact, we know that already at age 22, while stationed with the British army in India, he read Darwin's masterpiece “On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection”. Perhaps the most fascinating part in Churchill's essay is his treatment of the appearance of humans. The key point is that he fully accepts the fact that like every other life form, humans are simply a natural product of Darwinian evolution. Already early on in his essay he remarks that ""even you and I descend from the somewhat clumsy-looking inhabitants of the sea."" He points out that the evolution of life on Earth demonstrates that: ""In storm and stress new types, more highly organized, have ever emerged able to survive the buffets of Fate.,"" and therefore, ""in days of doubt and depression comfort may be found in this thought and in the study of our story written in the rocks on a time-scale which counts a million years but as a watch in the night.""

Churchill sent Davies a letter mentioning that the articles he was to write for News of the World were complete, and specifically mentions “The River of Life.”

Typed letter signed, on his Chartwell letterhead, 2nd November, 1938, to Davies, saying he believes the articles will be “stimulating to your readers”, and he hopes they will give Davies “satisfaction.” “My dear Major Davies, I have now completed the nine articles upon which we agreed, and I send them to you herewith. They are mostly about three thousand words, but there is one article: ""The River of Life"", which runs to nearly four thousand words. ‘This can of course be cut down if you so desire.

“I need scarcely say that if you want these articles changed in any way, not disagreeable to my own convictions, you have only to let me know. I think myself the series is readable, and also suggestive and stimulating to your readers, and I hope they will give you satisfaction. Let me again assure you and Sir Emsley Carr of the pleasure with which I have worked with and for the ""News of the World.”

This is a rare letter of Churchill relating to his science writing, and particularly to his article on Darwin and evolution. And it is our first Churchill letter relating to his science writing.