The Evolution of Scholarship on Literature

To the Editor:

In "Darwin to the Rescue" (The Chronicle Review, August 1), Britt Peterson discusses the empirical work done by us, Jonathan A. Gottschall and Joseph Carroll. By handling facts carelessly, she gives a false impression of our scientific professionalism.

She says that many Literary Darwinists have no scientific background and "frequently work alone rather than with groups of scientists." Peterson does not mention that our largest and most-ambitious empirical