Discourses: Biological and Geological Essays (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Thomas H. Huxley was born in 1825 in the English country village of Ealing. His father was a schoolteacher, but Huxley received little regular schooling and was largely self-taught.  Often called an atheist or a materialist, Huxley later coined the term “agnostic” to describe his own philosophical system of belief after finding that none of the various other “isms” properly described his views.