Unnatural Philosophy

The word 'scientist' was first coined in 1839,
but for decades after conservative people
used the older term 'natural philosopher',
as if that alone would limit the changes
that the discipline of hypothesis-test-result wrought
by antiquating the language around the process.

Then in 1859 Charles Darwin reluctantly published 
'On The Origin of Species', to narrowly beat his rivals
in the scientific world from publishing their own theories,
as if the speed and sequence of publication itself
were a further part of the evolutionary process.

What Darwin said caused him trouble enough
for it being published in a society that justified hierarchy
by reference to the history of a Christian faith
which put faith in men, however badly they behaved.

Enter Darwin's country cousin, Herbert Spencer,
a breeder of animals for competitive shows.
Before Darwin was dead Spencer took over.
He coarsened the science and elided natural evolution
with the human intrusion on the natural world
known as  'eugenics' through his phrase
'the survival of the fittest' where his became the hand
that sped the evolution of plants and animals.
Under him the fitness to survive were proven
by his sadistic control over all he owned,
whilst he was opaque and selectively observant.

Now we have taken eugenics to the level
of poisoning the skies we live under
whilst we want them to be clean
with no change in our behaviour
no reduction in human population
and no lowering of our place in the food chain.