The Reluctant Mr Darwin – An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution Great Discoveries

The Reluctant Mr Darwin An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution Great Discoveries

"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. .

User Ratings and Reviews

5 Stars An Excellent Overview of Darwin and His Work
This is a superb overview of life of Charles Darwin after he returns from the voyage of The Beagle in October 1836. Mr. Quammen is an excellent non-fiction writer, with an easy style that flows and pulls you into the story and continues to make it interesting throughout. He chose to write only the years after the Beagle voyage in the interest of brevity and focus on the more important work done after 1836, especially of course, On the Origin of Species. This is not an in-depth biography and isn't intended to be.

In about 250 pages, Quammen does a fine job of distilling Darwin's quietly productive life, both personal and scientific. Many things must be hastily skimmed of course. When this occurs, Quammen says it specifically, such as on pp. 228-230 where he gives a 30,000-foot view of developments in evolutionary theory since Darwin, including the "modern synthesis." He pointedly shows you the best places to look for the details by including the important titles by the principals for further reading.

One thing I particulary like about this book is that it brings Darwin the man to life. It highlights his family life, friendships, scientific relationships and how they influence him. It also presents Darwin as the very humane man that he was; and shows his unflinching pursuit of facts, in spite of consequences (while still trying very hard not to offend anyone.)

My only negatives would be where the occasional glib, too-conversational quip gets past the editor. These occasional lapses show something of the author's history of writing for magazines, including many years with Outside. That said, these were rare and only detracted momentarily.

This is an excellent place to start with Darwin. Also highly recommended: Everyman's Library edition of On the Origin of Species and The Voyage of the Beagle:

The Origin of Species and the Voyage of the Beagle

5 Stars Sugar for Curiosity
Mr. O… has done a beuatiful job of holding the reader's interest as he

weaves the life of Darwin into the evolution of his theory. Prior to this

read I had declined opportunities to visit the Galapagoes.Now with curiosity

peaked I'm ready to go. Wow! A most informative read. rlb

5 Stars excellent background to the theory
This book is excellent for those who want not only to understand evolutionary thinking, but also to have some insight into how that thinking developed.

The book is concerned mainly with the period between Darwin's return from the voyage on the Beagle to when On The Origin of Species was published. The author discusses Darwin's life at home and his interactions with other scientists and naturalists, directly and by mail.

I was left with the feeling that I had a much better understanding of Darwin as a person, and how personal factors (especially his relationship with his wife and children) affected his whole approach to the subject. I also got some insight into Darwin's development as a scientist, and both the experiences and the people that were most influential.

5 Stars Great service! Interesting book!
Quick delivery! The book was in the condition indicated. Pleased to do business with you! Thanks!

4 Stars Brash but compelling Darwin reading
David Quammen's The Reluctant Mr. Darwin fills an interesting niche within Darwin biographies, falling somewhere in between the brevity of Janet Browne's Darwin's Origin of Species and more comprehensive undertakings like Adrian Desmond and James Moore's Darwin. Clearly drawing upon his skills as a popular science writer, Quammen's candid and colored portrayal of Darwin is equal parts fascinating and divisive. While the narrative Quammen crafts is delightfully dense with Darwin's idiosyncrasies and the various contexts surrounding the development of his work, his unapologetic interpretation of events may turn off some readers.

Quammen begins the book right after the Beagle voyage, dropping the reader into Darwin's rush to situate his life in London. The first third of the book thus focuses on the interaction of the different factors that influenced the ideas eventually supporting the Origin of Species. Yet there are also plenty of details regarding the incubation of the ideas behind Darwin's Origin of Species. He was consumed by meetings with Lyell and Gould to identify specimens from the voyage and working out concepts in his notebooks that would form the basis for his theories on transmutation and natural selection. His reading of Malthus provided Darwin with the key to evolution via natural selection, while his meetings with Joseph Hooker and Lyell gave him the confidence to tighten his ideas of transmutation. Quammen does a good job of balancing this narrative with glimpses into Darwin's personal life; we see his rationality at work in his weighing of the pros and cons of marriage, as well as the common thread of genuineness that pervaded both his interactions with his wife Emma and his writing.

The middle third of the book is devoted mostly to the major points of contention regarding Darwin's Origin of Species. Quammen's commentary throughout is insightful but often inconsistent; his instincts as a popular science writer can be both a strength and a detraction. For example, his framing of the controversy between Wallace and Darwin works well, crafting a compelling underdog narrative that brings Darwin's flaws regarding pride into sharp focus and provides the rationale for the kickstarting of the Origin. He also makes good points when trying to justify the twenty year gap between the start of writing and the Origin of Species, noting that it is not about which factors were most responsible but about how the factors interact.

Yet there are several instances where Quammen makes sensationalized assertions regarding Darwin's life and detracts from the integrity of the narrative. His various discussions on the role of religion in Darwin's life are certainly guilty of this. Quammen makes sure to emphasize the theme of religion's incompatibility with Darwin's work; even in the beginning Darwin is depicted leading a double life of subverting religion, working out his ideas in his "seditious notebooks." It gets worse later on, when, in his analysis of the argument in the Origin of Species, he says that Darwin's conception of evolution is not challenging the existence of God but the special status of man. It is a fascinating idea and true to some extent, but it does not warrant the undoing of the effort he spent to establish the incompatibility of Darwin's ideas with religion. Such instances exemplify how Quammen's flair for the dramatic can undermine a solid narrative.

The final third of the book finds Quammen rushing through the legacy of the Origin of Species and an overview of evolutionary biology. His survey of the Origin of Species wants to be too much for the space it is allotted; it wants to be critical and reverent but cannot pursue either to the fullest extent. The discussion of Mendel and evolutionary biology also seemed unfinished; while there is a good deal of background on Mendel's experiments, Quammen skims over how Mendel's work translated into the modern synthesis that revitalized Darwinism in the 20th century, offering instead a comprehensive but ultimately non-informative equivalent of a reading list.

Despite these shortcomings, Quammen does manage to craft a nuanced and intriguing portrayal of Darwin, acknowledging him as the genuine and benevolent man he was in his life and writings yet refusing to shy away from his flaws. The Reluctant Mr. Darwin provides an ultimately flawed but well-researched and accessible complement to the more neutral biographies available on Darwin. If you do decide to pick up this book, however, I would also recommend reading Janet Browne's Darwin's Origin of Species, as it provides a more unbiased perspective on the events in Darwin's life and fills in some of the time gaps left in Quammen's book.

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