Back to Methuselah: A Metabiological Pentateuch

The narrator recalls a Dublin childhood in the 1860s, when a chance visit to a modest news‑shop sparked his curiosity about the great naturalist Buffon and the ideas that would soon be eclipsed by Darwin. An anecdote about an uncle’s stubborn dismissal of evolution illustrates how scientific and religious teachings were still tangled. This witty, nostalgic tone sets the stage for a broader meditation on humanity’s search for origins.

From this personal beginning the work expands into a theatrical, philosophical sketch of the rise of neo‑Darwinism in the early twentieth century. The author, now a mature playwright, contrasts his own experimental drama with the way contemporary scientists have narrowed evolution to mere ‘circumstantial selection,’ hinting at larger questions of purpose, morality, and the future of the species. Listeners are treated to a blend of irony, literary allusion, and earnest inquiry, offering a thought‑provoking glimpse into the early battles of ideas that still shape our world.