The Amazing Dr. Darwin [Hardcover]

Charles Sheffield (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2002

Key Selling Points- Charles Sheffield won the prestigious Nebula and Hugo Awards, and his Baen novel The Mind Pool has an 86% sellthrough.- He was also author of two nonfiction best sellers, Man on Earth and Earthwatch, and writes an online column, "The Borderlands of Science."- A physicist and mathematician, Sheffield published over a hundred technical papers and was Vice President of the Earth Satellite Corporation.- A past president of the American Astronautical Society, he combined his knowledge of science with strong storytelling skills to create compelling science fiction.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A pockmarked face, a decided paunch and two missing front teeth notwithstanding, renowned physician Erasmus Darwin was, as Nebula Award winner Sheffield illustrates here, not only arguably the greatest 18th-century Englishman but a 24-carat charmer. A practicing scientist himself as well as the author of justly admired hard SF (The Spheres of Heaven, etc.), Sheffield poses six bedeviling mysteries smacking of the supernatural, which the real Erasmus Darwin would have found irresistible: an aquatic devil lurking in the depths of a Scottish loch; a deadly Oriental ruby that kills to defend itself; a phantom highwayman making off with passengers' jewels from a locked coach; a werebeast, a vampire and a cursed treasure from a pre-Roman king all in the historical context of England's Age of Reason. The author cleverly inserts several of the leading scientific minds of the late 1700s into these elegantly wrought short stories, including such luminaries as the endearing engineer James Watt and the brilliant chemist Joseph Priestley. Each tale also hints that Erasmus anticipated a then-horrifying theory that made his better-known descendant's name an anathema to traditional Christians. Plagued by gout that was exacerbated through lovingly delineated dietary indiscretions like clove-laced squab pie and flagons of claret and port, Erasmus Darwin follows his life's motto eat or be eaten into Sheffield's masterfully crafted tales, which are sure to keep the author in the limelight.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

From his encounter with a mysterious creature in the lake near Malkirk ("The Devil of Malkirk") to his discovery of the true treasure hidden near the border between Scotland and England ("The Treasure of Odirex"), doctor and poet Erasmus Darwin the grandfather of Charles Darwin uses his knowledge of science and humanity to uncover the facts buried under superstition and legend. Originally published in periodicals, the six tales in this collection provide an imaginative look at the life of a man who represented the best qualities of the 18th century. Sheffield's (Transvergence) foray into historical speculation results in an evocative re-creation of a period and a personality that should appeal to fans of Holmesian mysteries and the history of science. For most libraries.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Baen (June 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 074343529X
• ISBN-13: 978-0743435291
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,613,092 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Charming story--a rational man in the age of enlightenment, August 16, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Amazing Dr. Darwin (Hardcover)

At the dawning of the enlightenment, Dr. Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin, stands as a voice of reason. England is beset with rumor of the supernatural--vampires, werewolves, and demons. Darwin approaches everything with an open-minded skepticism. Together with his treasure-anxious sidekick, Colonel Jacob Pole, Darwin delves deep into the mysteries that confront 18th century England finding, among other things, the Loch Ness Monster, Bonnie Prince Charlie, and a forgotten race of humans.

Author Charles Sheffield has created a charming set of stories of a past not too different from our own. Darwin contains the best of Sherlock Holmes as well as the gluttony of Nero Wolfe. I suspect that Sheffield meant his novel to be a reminder to us, in the 21st Century, to always remember to look to rational and scientific causes before we ascribe whatever we see to the supernatural or unexplainable. It is easy to see why Sheffield, a scientist, would choose Erasmus Darwin as his hero.

THE AMAZING DR. DARWIN is both powerful and amusing. Darwin is fallible enough to be sympathetic, and Pole is sympathetic without being completely brainless.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Just a Word of Warning ..., July 25, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Amazing Dr. Darwin : The Adventures of Charles Darwin's Grandfather (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a revised and expanded version of Charles Sheffield's earlier (1982) Ace paperback "Erasmus Magister". But neither the Introduction nor the cover tells you this.

5.0 out of 5 stars Sherlock Holmes with a medical twist--100 years earlier!, March 17, 2008

By 

M. Broderick "mikebinok" (Oklahoma City, OK USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Amazing Dr. Darwin (Hardcover)

The hero of this book is Erasmus Darwin, the real-world grandfather of Charles Darwin. He apparently was quite a spectacular observer and thinker, quite in the Sherlock Holmes mode. Indeed, a couple of the stories remind me greatly of Sherlock Holmes, one in particular of Hound of the Baskervilles. There are several novellas in this book, each of which stands alone. As another reviewer mentioned, this is an expanded version of the earlier Erasmus Magister, but it does have new stories that make it quite a buy, especially at this price!

Very readable and enjoyable. If you have an interest in the period, or are a fan of Sheffield's writing, you'll enjoy it.