Isabelle Wight Duncan

Isabelle Duncan
Isabelle Duncan
Born	2 July 1812; Dumfries
Died	26 December 1878; Bayswater

Isabelle Duncan (2 July 1812 – 26 December 1878) was a British author known for her book which explained scientific theories in terms of the accounts known from the Bible.

Life

Isabelle Wright was born in Dumfries in 1812. She married George John Craig Duncan who was the minister of Kirkpatrick Durham. They moved to London and after bearing nine children she took to writing. She wrote a book, Pre-Adamite man : or, the story of our old planet & its inhabitants, told by Scripture & science, about the creation which combined scientific theories with the stories from Genesis in the bible. Her Pre-Adamite theory postulated a race of people before Adam which also explained where angels came from. The book was published just after Darwin published On the Origin of Species and after the evidence that mammoths and humans lived at the same time.[1] At that time the bible gave evidence that the earth was thousands and not millions of years old. She explained the recent findings from geology but surmising that chapter one of Genesis described a race before Adam and the second chapter described the classical story of biblical creation.[2]

Her husband did not agree with main idea of the book but he offered his expertise with theology and did some illustrations. This was uncredited as the book went through many editions by an unknown author. Isabelle was annoyed that the author was assumed to be male. For later editions it was published under her name.[1]

Duncan died in Bayswater in 1878.[2]

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gollark: So the general principle is "only obey governments I like"?

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gollark: I don't think the constitution forbids that, so you could at least say that in *that instance* he does!

gollark: No, some of it just seems to indicate insanity.

References

Stephen D. Snobelen, ‘Duncan , Isabelle Wight (1812–1878)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 19 Nov 2015
Elizabeth Ewan; Sue Innes; Sian Reynolds (2006). The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women: From the Earliest Times to 2004. Edinburgh University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7486-1713-5.

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[odnb-1] Stephen D. Snobelen, ‘Duncan , Isabelle Wight (1812–1878)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 19 Nov 2015

[EwanInnes2006-2] Elizabeth Ewan; Sue Innes; Sian Reynolds (2006). The Biographical Dictionary of Scottish Women: From the Earliest Times to 2004. Edinburgh University Press. p. 106. ISBN 978-0-7486-1713-5.