Herbert Spencer on the Americans and the Americans on Herbert Spencer

This early work by Herbert Spencer was originally published in 1883 and we are now republishing it with a brand new introductory biography. Herbert Spencer on the Americans and the Americans on Herbert Spencer is a collection of fascinating speeches and letters that illustrate Spencers professional relationships and public perception. Herbert Spencer was born on 27th April 1820, in Derby, England. In 1851 he published Social Statics to great acclaim and his quietly influential Principles of Psychology in 1955. These were followed by numerous works of sociology, psychology, and philosophy, which led him to become a prominent intellectual of his day. He also wrote The Developmental Hypothesis (1852) which described the theory of evolution seven years before Charles Darwins Origin of Species. He even popularised the term "Evolution" and coined the phrase "Survival of the fittest", but his works did not contain the comprehensive theoretical system that Darwins did, which is why his theory was not taken seriously at the time. Spencers most famous idea was that of "Social Darwinism." He saw the process of organic evolution as being analogous to that of society, an idea influenced many intellectuals of the day.