Reluctant Mr Darwin Pa

by Quammen,David

• ISBN13: 9780393329957
• ISBN10: 039332995X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-07-17
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

Summary

The story of Charles Darwin and his wondrous, scary idea-the idea of "natural selection" as the main mechanism of evolution-is one of the most exciting in the history of science. Yet twenty-one years passed between Darwin's conception of this idea and his publication of The Origin of Species. In The Reluctant Mr. Darwin, David Quammen draws on Darwin's secret "transmutation" notebooks and private letters to create a meticulous, humane portrait of the man, and a lucid explication of his work, that captures both the personal foibles and the scientific substance. It's an intimate view of a great scientist-taking readers behind the veil of Darwin's greatness and his fame, following him closely through the joys, struggles, and sorrows of his quiet but extraordinarily consequential life. Book jacket.

Author Biography

David Quammen currently holds the Wallace Stegner Chair of Western American Studies at Montana State University, in Bozeman

Table of Contents

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