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Darwin: A Life in Science (1995)

por Michael White, John Gribbin

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An account of Charles Darwin's own evolution towards his famous theories, and of his disturbed life, plagued by illness, tragedy and the loneliness of being a man far ahead of his time.
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An interesting account of Darwin's life and work, easily accessible to someone with very little biology training. ( )
  cazfrancis | Sep 23, 2013 |
Well, is it a biography or a historical work? It seems to fall between these categories and ends up being a little unsatisfying as a result.

I purchased this to mark the 'Origin' publication 150th anniversary year of 2009, and selected the work on the basis of John Gribbin's name, rather than through recommendation or research. As a result, I was pleased with the clarity of the language (which I'd expected on the back of the Gribbin authorship) but surprised (in a good way) by the structure and the focus on the intellectual path to the Theory of Natural Selection. The chapter structure divides Darwin's life into fairly discrete chunks, but then picks from that period the salient element that is formative in Darwin's development of the Natural Selection theory and makes it the focus, resulting in a number of forward and backward references. The themed nature of the chapters thus contain overlap, which leads to repetition - particularly obvious in the discussion of the publication of the 'Origin' itself.

So, not a straight biography - which I think I'd have found a little dull, as it's not my preferred style of non-fiction work - but more an exploration of the influences that shaped Darwin's development of his theory. Family and lifestyle; friends and rivals; health and emotions; politics and social attitudes are all covered effectively: I was left wanting more detail on some of these but then that might have unbalanced the work, which I felt was just the right length. As it was, mixing the biographical details with the exploration of the struggle by the scientific establishment (being undertaken on a wider front) to supplant the biblical view of creation gave an interesting and detailed view of Darwin's decisive part in that struggle.

Learning how Darwin backtracked from the 1st edition 'correct' version to compromise his view in later editions was interesting, as was discovering that his position as a respected geologist prior to making a conversion to being recognised as a biologist before his ideas on Evolution would gain any traction. Particularly stressed in the book is the distinction between the Theory of Evolution - a concept then growing in acceptance, although lacking the theoretical and experimental illustrations to make it wholly accepted - and Darwin's theory, that of Natural Selection. This distinction was something I was well aware of, but for a more general reader this book places this important separation in context, with the Natural Selection theory being in competition with a number of other approaches (e.g. Lamarckism) that had support (often widespread) at the time. It was only Darwin's diligent search for supporting evidence that pursuaded others to fall in line with his ideas, even though the method of inheritance was a potential pitfall that blighted full acceptance and escaped Darwin to the end of his life.

Final mention must be made that the book is credited to Michael White as well as John Gribbin, and it is just the Gribbin name that I am more familiar with. I do not know the extent to which the writing was shared. Also, in relation to the subject of the book, the authors' give due weight to the contribution of Alfred Russel Wallace to the Theory of Natural Selection, referring to him as a co-discoverer, as Darwin himself acknowledged.

'Darwin: A Life in Science' addresses both 'Life' and 'Science' to my satisfaction, but isn't as ultimately satisfying as a dedicated work on either of the themes might be. I learnt a great deal, and think that the book makes a useful and easy read, but I'm not sure that I shouldn't have done that research or looked for recommendations before leaping into the dark. ( )
  Noisy | Feb 5, 2010 |
I have read so many potted Darwin biographies in the press, especially in this multi anniversary year for Darwin, that I thought I ought to at least attempt to do the job properly and read a full biography as well.

What attracted me to this one was the fact that it covers off the science as well as the scientists, and the fact that I knew I enjoyed John Gribbin's work already (he is a co-author).

This book was well worth the effort. The shortened biographies in the press tend to exist just to hang someones particular brand of politics on to the man but this book is comprehensive enough to avoid that altogether.

One of the greatest lives in science is revealed in all it's vulnerable humanity.

Enjoyable, yet still a useful source for future reference with a decent index and further reading list. ( )
  psiloiordinary | Nov 8, 2009 |
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An account of Charles Darwin's own evolution towards his famous theories, and of his disturbed life, plagued by illness, tragedy and the loneliness of being a man far ahead of his time.

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