The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution

by David Quammen

Overview

"Quammen brilliantly and powerfully re-creates the 19th century naturalist's intellectual and spiritual journey."—Los Angeles Times Book Review

Twenty-one years passed between Charles Darwin's epiphany that "natural selection" formed the basis of evolution and the scientist's publication of On the Origin of Species. Why did Darwin delay, and what happened during the course of those two decades? The human drama and scientific basis of these years constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that elucidates the character of a cautious naturalist who initiated an intellectual revolution.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393329957
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	07/17/2007
Series:	Great Discoveries
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	672,186
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.80(d)
Age Range:	14 - 18 Years

About the Author

David Quammen is the author of The Song of the Dodo, among other books. He has been honored with the John Burroughs Medal for nature writing, an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, an award in the art of the essay from PEN, and (three times) the National Magazine Award. Quammen is also a contributing writer for National Geographic. He lives in Bozeman, Montana.

Table of Contents

Home and Dry: an introduction     11
The Fabric Falls: 1837-1839     20
The Kiwi's Egg: 1842-1844     52
Point of Attachment: 1846-1851     84
A Duck for Mr. Darwin: 1848-1857     122
His Abominable Volume: 1858-1859     153
The Fittest Idea: 1860 to the future     205
The Last Beetle: 1876-1882     235
Source Notes     255
Bibliography     271
Acknowledgments     285
Index     289

Editorial Reviews

Darwin is so frequently mentioned in Bryson's book he seems to inhabit the pages. If your curiosity has been raised, consider Quammen's stunning and lively account of Darwin after he arrived home from the Galápagos Islands. The central question facing Darwin after the voyage on the Beagle was how to explain and when to publish his world-altering theory. The when part was settled by the danger of being overtaken, but the how part is Quammen's great achievement. He offers a splendid summation of On the Origin of Species, making this foundational text of the scientific world accessible to all (not that Darwin himself was opaque). Quammen has also published a very nice illustrated edition of On the Origin of Species, filled with letters, maps, diagrams, and images. Neal Wyatt, "RA Crossroads", Booksmack!, 12/2/10

Library Journal - Booksmack!