David Quammen (born February 1948) is an award-winning science, nature and travel writer whose work has appeared in publications such as National Geographic, Outside, Harper's, Rolling Stone, and The New York Times Book Review; he has also written fiction. He wrote a column called "Natural Acts" for Outside magazine for fifteen years. Quammen lives in Bozeman, Montana.
This book is a kind of companion volume to 鈥淭he Origin of Species,鈥� though you need not have read that book to fully appreciate this one. The book covers the period after Darwin鈥檚 return, in 1836, from his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle, to his publication of 鈥淥rigin鈥� in 1859, when he was 50, to the end of life at age 73.
With the help of other top scientists, most especially Charles Lyell (鈥淧rinciples of Geology鈥�) and the brilliant botanist, Joseph Hooker, Darwin sifted through his treasure trove from his travels and did years of additional intensive research until he formulated his theory of evolution.
Both Darwin and his co-discoverer, Alfred Russel Wallace (more on him below), focused on biogeography, i.e. the study of animal and plant distribution around the planet. They discovered island environments were ideal for this. This research addresses two simple questions: Which kinds of creatures live where, and why do they live there, but not elsewhere?
What Darwin was striving to establish in his Origins of Species were the realities of natural selection and speciation. This is beautifully demonstrated by these persistent, and now renowned field scientists portrayed in this wonderful, concise film.....
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Alfred Russell Wallace, 15 years younger than Darwin, had no formal education, resources, or connections. He was a railway surveyor by trade. But he was also a voracious reader. He educated himself during evenings at public libraries. (See a sample list of books below, as quoted from the book)
Wallace traveled into the Amazon on his own and collected all sorts of specimens and filling innumerable notebooks with data and his observations for four years, only to see his treasure trove sink to the bottom of the ocean on the ship he was to take back to Britain.
After a year in England, Wallace traveled to the Malay Peninsula, an empire of islands, now known as Indonesia, where he would spend eight years collecting specimens.
It would take a fit of malarial fever during this time for Wallace to experience an epiphany re: the process of natural selection. (Although Wallace did not call it that).
One day, Darwin would receive a manuscript in the mail from Wallace laying out this theory. Darwin was not familiar with Wallace, but Wallace knew Darwin鈥檚 reputation, which is why he sent him his paper. He did not know Darwin had been working on his theory all these years, including the last eight years on barnacles alone. Darwin was horrified. Joseph Hooker who, along with Lyell, had been urging Darwin to publish sooner, devised a plan for the theory to be announced as a joint discovery of both Darwin and Wallace.
But there was a final twist. Wallace outlived Darwin by 31 years, into a time in the early 20th century when spiritualism was all the rage in England. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, Wallace got sucked into it. Unfortunately, Wallace reneged on some of the science he helped discover and formulate.
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While conceiving his theory in the notebooks, during the late 1830s, Darwin had thought much about religion. Darwin's father was a doctor who wanted his son to also become a doctor. Darwin lasted only half a semester in med school. He turned to the church. He was a Bible literalist at the time, and figured he would become a clergyman. He bounced around classes, including a botany course with a professor who subsequently recommended him for an unpaid position aboard the HMS Beagle. After convincing his father that he would not become a deadbeat if he took this one detour, he experienced what one writer calls "perhaps the most impactful post-college gap year in history." Decades later, Darwin reflected on the process of self-discovery. 鈥淚t seems ludicrous that I once intended to be a clergyman,鈥� he wrote.
However, disbelief crept over Darwin at a very slow rate. 鈥淚 never gave up Christianity until I was forty years of age鈥� he said. The change came so slowly, in fact, that he鈥檇 felt no anxiety. And now that it was done, he harbored no doubts and had 鈥渘ever since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct.鈥� Darwin鈥檚 own empirical disposition had triumphed. He adopted Thomas Huxley's term, agnostic.
Beyond renouncing Christian dogma, he had given up any general belief in a personal God, or any concept of what is known today as Intelligent Design. Though not original, the concept had been advocated by William Paley, an English clergyman who, like others of his ilk, treated science as an extension of theology. He used a watchmaker analogy, whereby if one somehow came upon a watch in the forest one would have to assume an intelligent watchmaker behind it. Paley saw this as an analogy to the universe. Darwin had subscribed to this in his youth, but had long since discarded it.
Darwin was troubled about a much more serious matter: what about the existence of evil, in a world supposedly run by a benevolent, omnipotent deity? Darwin wrote: 鈥淭here seems to me too much misery in the world." Paley acknowledged the problem (the classic Theodicy issue), but presumed there was more good than ill in the world, so God must be benevolent. "That鈥檚 so illogical," Darwin wrote, that 鈥渋t revolts our understanding.鈥� It was an obvious non-sequitur.
Copernicus, among the great scientists of all time, is the one whose impact most closely resembled Darwin鈥檚, in that Darwin continued the revolution Copernicus began, alerting humans to the fact that we don鈥檛 occupy a central position in the universe. Darwin extended that recognition from cosmology to biology
The author writes鈥�.
鈥淏ut let鈥檚 be clear: This is not evolution versus God. The existence of God鈥攁ny sort of god, personal or abstract, immanent or distant鈥攊s not what Darwin鈥檚 evolutionary theory challenges. What it challenges is the supposed godliness of Man鈥攖he conviction that we above all other life forms are spiritually elevated, divinely favored, possessed of an immaterial and immortal essence, such that we have special prospects for eternity, special status in the expectations of God, special rights and responsibilities on Earth. That鈥檚 where Darwin runs afoul of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and probably most other religions on the planet.鈥�
Meanwhile, Darwin benefitted from a somewhat unlikely domestic bliss. His wife to be, Emma, was a sweet-spirited and pious thirty-year-old, on the brink of what in those days was considered spinsterhood, when Charles, her first cousin, proposed to her. She was a Bible-based evangelical. Their shared grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood, had made the family fortune in pottery. Emma was already aware that Charles was not religiously devout, even then.
What鈥檚 impressive is that, despite their theological disagreement, in a way that is almost unimaginable today, they would become deeply connected as lovers, partners in work, parents, and were each other鈥檚 main source of emotional support in hard times. They were married for 43 years.
鈥淚n 1882, Charles had entered the final stretch at age 73. At one point he told Emma, 鈥淚 am not the least afraid to die,鈥� knowing people would wonder. At another moment, he whispered to Emma, 鈥淢y love, my precious love.鈥� After several hours, he muttered, 鈥淚f I could but die,鈥� and repeated the phrase like a plea, trying to let go. He dozed, he woke; they gave him a few spoonfuls of whiskey; he felt faint, and blacked out again. Then he was gone鈥攇one in more senses than one. He left his country home in a horse-drawn hearse, headed for London.鈥�
He would be buried in Westminster Abbey. Queen Victoria and Prime Minister, William Gladstone, both very pious believers, refused to attend his funeral. Another cowardly pietist, one Lady Elizabeth Hope, would concoct a phony deathbed conversion story about Darwin some 33 years after his death To this day, at least in the U.S., large numbers of people still feel threatened by Darwin's science.
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Darwin's chronic illness is a big part of his story. It often debilitated him for long periods of time. Given what I read in this book, I think this medical historian below makes a believable case, that fits the facts, that Darwin was lactose intolerant. Not surprisingly, it was exacerbated by tremendous emotional stress while working on "The Origin of Species"
A couple interesting tidbits to support this. Sometimes, in desperation, Darwin and his family would make lengthy stays at spas for "water treatment." Darwin thought his improved health was a result of the cold water regimen, but I think it was significant he was put on essentially a vegan diet when he was there (no butter, no bacon, etc.).
His book came out in 1859, when he was age 50. Although he continued to publish papers, he was under less stress which also made him feel better.
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Wallace's reading list.....
"Wallace had always loved to read. He read Alexander von Humboldt鈥檚 great narrative of travels in South America (which had also inspired Darwin), William Prescott鈥檚 History of the Conquest of Peru, Lyell鈥檚 Principles of Geology, William Swainson鈥檚 A Treatise on the Geography and Classification of Animals (which described MacLeay鈥檚 quinarian systematics), and John Lindley鈥檚 Elements of Botany. He read Darwin鈥檚 Journal twice and found it thrilling, second only to Humboldt鈥檚 as a science-flavored travel narrative. He read W. H. Edwards鈥檚 rollicking new book, A Voyage up the River Amazon. He read Malthus. He was curious about everything."
鈥淏y the cold Darwinian logic of natural selection, evolution codifies happenstance into strategy.鈥� ~David Quammen
I so enjoyed this biography of Charles Darwin that I consumed all 300+ pages in less than 8 hours. Quammen writes with contagious enthusiasm. No detail of Down House seems unworthy of contemplation - even the beetles and barnacles are animated and interesting.
This book is not an biography, but rather a description of the thought process that brought Darwin to his natural selection theory. That was exactly what I was looking for, and exactly what I got. The author has succeeded in describing why a reluctant Darwin - he rarely left his house, not even for the funerals of his daughter and father - eventually was able to comprise his different topics into a general theory, enabling him to write his groundbreaking book The Origin of Species and what the initial reaction was from the academic establishment. I also learned that most of the controversy was not due to the theory itself, but its implications for mankind and its place amongst our other species. If after all, we were just another species, dependent on the evolutionaire laws, why could we continue to claim we were God鈥檚 chosen?
All in all, a very good book for those interested in the theory itself, but not Charles Darwin the man.
The Reluctant Mr. Darwin presents Charles Darwin the man in relief against the simplicity and near perfection of his most lasting ideas. Using Darwin鈥檚 own journals and correspondence David Quammen, brings the father of evolution to life. He illustrates beautifully the birth and development of the then shocking concept of natural selection. He asserts that natural selection, not evolution is Darwin鈥檚 major contribution. Quammen defines and differentiates between evolution and its mechanism natural selection. He discusses the past and current controversy around Darwin鈥檚 ideas, with emphasis on current theological dissent. I was most interested in Quammen鈥檚 discussion of the burdens Darwin faced. Darwin struggled with three internal difficulties; keeping his evolution ideas a secret, relentless study to find and prove the mechanism behind evolution and his subsequent or parallel loss of faith. Quammen proposes several reasons for Darwins鈥檚 need to keep his ideas secret. He asks whether Darwin understood the implications of his evolution ideas. He seems to believe that Darwin did. Quammen even proposes at one point that the secret was what kept Darwin sickly. His obsession with perfecting his work, his concern over how the concept would be received and his fear of shocking his family with his lack of faith were all important factors in his reluctance to publish. Quammen鈥檚 years as a science journalist give him unique insight into the effect of delivery style on public reception of information. He explores this story with a keen understanding of Darwin鈥檚 need to express his ideas in just the right way. Quammen does a wonderful job of describing the influences of personages like; Malthus, Lyell, and Wallace on Darwin鈥檚 work and decisions.
Quammen conveys the human character of Darwin well. He speaks of Darwin鈥檚 fears about money, his avoidance of funerals, and his love for billiards. He doesn鈥檛 fill the page and my head with lofty notions of some demigod handing down the laws of nature. Quammen introduces to us a quiet, hard-working, carefully observant man who is at times self-obsessed. This book will be a fascinating diversion for anyone interested in the psyche and pathos of Darwin the man. It is also interesting from the perspective of one who wonders about the reconciliation of faith and reason. I was a little disappointed that for several reasons, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin excludes the HMS Beagle years. Regretfully I cannot compare Quammen鈥檚 book to others on the subject, as I have not read other Darwin biographies, or Darwin鈥檚 The Origin of Species. This book left me with a strong resolve to do so. This thorough and insightful book will appeal to readers from a broad spectrum of disciplines and education levels.
I never realized that 80-87% of Americans reject what Darwin discovered about the evolution of species. How this careful, thoughtful scientist worked his way toward a persuasive and coherent theory makes suspenseful reading. He was a religious skeptic but no radical. A persistent curious thinker. Quammen is also a wonderful writer. There's nothing dry about this book.
Full disclosure: Charles Darwin is my favorite historical figure. Learning about evolution (finally) as a freshman in college and reading from On the Origin of Species exposed me to an aspect of science that was severely lacking in my earlier education and made it clear to me that there was no place for a higher power or supernatural explanations in the natural world. It is shocking that in America, that the acceptance of evolution is so low, amongst the lowest of the industrialized nations, in fact (this is addressed in the introduction). The grip of religiosity has a strong grip on it's populace, and keeps many from even questioning the myths which they learned as children.
I would recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in Darwin's life and the origins of his grand theory. It is a short read, and really well written by David Quammen. I'll be checking out more of his work. The actual story is only 253 pages long (in the hardcover I read) with the rest of the book consisting of extensive source notes and bibliography, along with acknowledgements and an index.
The book takes up just as Darwin is returning from his famous voyage to the Galapagos Islands. It describes his relationships with other great English scientists of the day, his family life, his personal interests, and ultimately, his struggle to put together his grand idea.
Darwin's family life was very interesting. He married his first cousin (common in the day), Emma, and they had ten children. Three of them died before Charles. Emma was a Christian to her death, which resulted in friction as Charles was a non-believer, and ultimately riled her ilk with his theory. But they had a successful, loving marriage, and she played a big part nursing Charles through his recurring illnesses. The story of his proposal is rather amusing.
The main drama in Darwin's story is the race to publish his grand idea. He had collected his data, consulted with other scientists, put it all together in his head, but waited ~20 years to put pen to paper. In the meantime another scientist, Alfred Wallace, was formulating ideas similar to those of Darwin. Darwin took this time off to study barnacles! Darwin published and his work and the rest is history.
Darwin's theory was controversial at the time (and still is with some) but it has since been proven true by discoveries in embryology, molecular biology, genetics, DNA, and in a number of other areas of science. He was given a hero's burial at Westminster Abbey, not far from Isaac Newton. Like the author stated, "Darwin continued the revolution Copernicus began, alerting humans to the fact that we don't occupy the central position in the universe. Darwin extended that recognition from cosmology to biology." He was one of the greatest scientists to ever live. It is worth the effort to pick up this book and learn his story in well written and concise book.
I felt as though Charles Darwin was a personal acquaintance of mine by the time I finished this book. It is a very readable and colorfully written study of the great evolutionist Charles Darwin. It focuses on the period just after Darwin鈥檚 work aboard the Beagle, and sheds light on his work habits, personal life, and development as a thinker. The author brings to life both the man and his ideas.
Readers who make it all the way to the end of the book will be treated with a heart warming story about correspondence between Charles Darwin and an amateur bug collector from the English countryside. About 100 years later the grandson of the bug collector, Francis Crick, was co-discoverer of DNA's structure. The correspondence took place near the end of Darwin's life, so it was in a sense his symbolic connecting to the future of biological science. A writer of fiction couldn't contrive a more poetic connection between generations of scientists.