Darwin's dangerous idea. Part 2, Born equal.

The second in a very informative three-part series in which Andrew Marr looks in depth at all aspects of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. This part focuses on how Darwin's theory of evolution was used to influence culture and politics. Marr begins by covering in depth how the theory of natural selection was used before World War Two to justify imperialism and racism. He looks back to Darwin's first inklings of natural selection, covering how Malthus' notion of perpetual struggle and survival led to Darwin's realisation that only creatures with the best adaptations survive and pass them on. This became Darwin's theory of natural selection and inspired philosopher Herbert Spencer's more troubling, 'survival of the fittest.' It was this latter which was used to justify the behaviour of white colonialists over native races and later, Francis Galton's theory of eugenics and plans for genetic breeding control. The corruption of Darwin's theory led to Charles Davenport's attempts to enforce mass sterilisation onto those deemed to have unfit minds or bodies. The culmination of this corruption, of course, led to the Holocaust in Germany. Marr looks in detail at how Nazi philosophy used Darwinian theory to its own ends, combining bad science and bad politics. However, the use of selective breeding has been used to arguably good ends, for instance in attempts to eradicate Tay-Sachs disease amongst the New York Jewish population. Finally, Marr has a DNA test and learns some unexpected things about his genetic profile.