Charles Darwin: A New Life [Paperback]

John Bowlby (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This new biography will strongly appeal both to those who know the life and work of Darwin (1809-1882) and to those less familiar with the famous naturalist and his theories of evolution and natural selection. The late Bowlby ( Personality and Mental Illness ), a British psychologist, meticulously details the family background, education, scientific discoveries and publications of a young man who nearly became a country parson but boarded the HMS Beagle instead. It's an impressive story, and Bowlby does an excellent job of explaining the scientific context of Darwin's The Origin of Species and The Descent of Man , drawing extensively from the correspondence and journals of their author and members of his professional and personal circles. Additionally, the book proposes a new theory: that Darwin's debilitating bad health and depression stemmed from the death of his mother in 1817. Bowlby suggests that this sudden and silence-shrouded bereavement, along with Darwin's difficult relationship with his father, were the psychological causes of his emotional breakdowns and episodes of boils, vomiting, elephantiasis, rashes and heart palpitations. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

For more than a century, doctors and biographers have sought to explain the nature and origin of the illnesses that often left Darwin a semi-invalid. Bowlby, a pre-eminent British child psychiatrist who died in 1990, attributes these ailments to a form of repressed and prolonged bereavement for his mother who died when Darwin was eight. Bowlby draws heavily from primary sources--Darwin's Autobiography , Cor respondence , unpublished material--as well as medical and psychological literature. The narrative is engagingly readable and focuses more on the man and his personality than on his works. The maps, photos, tables, and bibliography add appreciably to the text, and the appendix "Darwin's ill health in the light of current research" is particularly useful. Readers interested in another, more socially oriented psychological explanation should consult Ralph Colp's To Be an Invalid ( LJ 6/1/77). Recommended for academic and larger public libraries.
- Harry E. Whitmore, Univ. of Maine-Augusta Lib.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (October 1, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393309304
• ISBN-13: 978-0393309300
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #231,232 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a social history of scientist's life, January 3, 2001

By 

William Chaisson "microfossilboy" (Trumansburg, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Charles Darwin: A New Life (Paperback)

If you are interested in Darwin's personal life, by all means read this book. If you are more interested in Darwin's ideas, then I wouldn't bother with this book as there are many others. John Bowlby has a curious writing style that reminds me of a very well written clinical case study. There is a lot of "... which I will discuss in Chapter 25" and "I have stated above that ...". He is also fond of somewhat heavy-handed foreshadowing: " ... a decision which, in the future, he was likely to regret." End of chapter.

Once one gets used to this very straightforward style this becomes a very good book. Chapter by chapter Bowlby lays out the facts of Darwin's life and then interprets them from a psychiatrist's point of view. He examines the social milieu in which Darwin was raised, the physical and emotional symptoms that he exhibited and expressed in writing and explains why Darwin was such a reclusive, sickly man. He convincingly rejects the 'tropical disease' explanation in favor of an anxiety disorder. The book is well illustrated with helpful maps that show you the geography of Darwin's childhood and of the Beagle's voyage and portraits of Darwin at various ages and of his relatives and colleagues.

This is one of those biographies during the course of which you begin to get to know and empathize with the subject. In Darwin's case this is not a difficult sell. He seems to have been a genuinely good guy in all respects. You feel gratified to know that the person who shook the foundations of Western thought was not a jerk. Rather, he felt pretty terrible about it, but all the same felt required to tell the truth as he saw it, regardless of the consequences to his state of mind, which were considerable. We see that Darwin was pretty much the opposite of emotionally prepared to deliver a scientifically sound theory of evolution to the world and yet he did. That his intellectual discipline and fervor conquered his emotional demons seems so quinessentially ... well ... human and you can't help but be proud of him.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More of a man than just an evolutionist., November 29, 1999

By 

Robert Steimle - See all my reviews

This review is from: Charles Darwin: A New Life (Paperback)

This is a marvelous story about a complicated man who faced great trials in life yet accomplished great things. Instead of the tired evolutionists arguments, this book tells of the childhood, the courtship, the struggles with physical health and the great family accomplishments of Charles Darwin, without skipping the intellectual genius of his mind and his scientific achievements. Enthralling.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Darwin the hypochondriac, January 22, 2003

By 

Jeffrey Leeper "kem2070" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Charles Darwin: A New Life (Hardcover)

Most biographies are geared towards illustrating the life of a famous figure for the purpose of presenting or revisiting the accomplishments. This biography, however, does not give the central focus to the writings and finds of Charles Darwin; the thesis deals more with Darwin being a possible hypochondriac.

The preface and appendix discuss recent research regarding Darwin's being an invalid during parts of his life. Some research deals with a disease that he may have picked up in South America while on the voyage of the HMS Beagle; some research says that Darwin was merely obsessed with being sick and therefore created a self-fulfilling prophecy.

This brings us to the text. Although Darwin's life is shown to us, as well as some additional information on family and colleagues, the life is covered in regards to his worst periods of sickness. By plotting this out for us, Bowlby shows us that many of these periods are preceded by deaths of family members close to Darwin and by fierce scrutiny of his discoveries and writings.

Another idea is the family's way of dealing with intense emotion. Rather than express this emotion by crying or mourning, it was internalized. This internalization led to depression, which led to sickness.

This biography is written less as a narrative of Darwin's life, but more as a proof for the author's thoughts on Darwin's sickness. As a result, there are many points where the author becomes more noticeable.

This is still an intriguing book, and I would recommend reading it.