Customer Reviews

Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist

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Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution that he advanced have become a major boon to the publishing trade. The sheer bulk of material in print related to Darwin and evolution is astonishing. With the thousands of books related to this subject out there, it is a daunting task for the interested reader to know where to start. I would suggest that this book is the ideal introduction to learning about Darwin and "Darwinism." The book is first and foremost a superb biography. It gives the reader a real sense of who Darwin was and what his time was like. Further, it explains the science of Darwin's era and puts the theory of natural selection into that context. It does a good job of explaining how the political, social, religious, economic and scientific context of nineteenth century Britain contributed to the development of Darwin's theory. In addition, Desmond and Moore show how Darwin's personal suffering contributed both to the development of his thinking as well as to two decades of delay in its publication.

The style is readable and compelling. In short, I recommend it wholeheartedly both to the casual reader with no background in the area and to those with a serious interest in the subject matter.

I just completed my second reading of this work. I do feel it is one of the better Darwin biographies. It certainly is not in the same league with Janet Browne's two volume work, but if you cannot get Browne, then this one will certainly do. This work is well researched and certainly presents us with a good look at not only Darwin the man, but of his science. I had to agree with another reviewer who made the observation that reading Charles Darwin's work is much easier after reading this work on his life and times. I also enjoyed the insightful look into the Victorian mind...it was an added bonus. Unfortunately, I have noticed that the anti-evolution folks go through these reviews bashing anything said positive about any of the Darwin Biographies. The study of the man, Darwin, is not necessarily an endorsement of his theory. On the other hand, Darwin and his contemporaries did change the way we look at our world and we do owe them a debt for that, and anyone that can produce such a profound work, indeed, needs to be studied. Any one who denies this simply has their head in the sand. Highly recommend this one. Good biography and good history. Well written!

This is a really first class biography, bringing the full weight of Charles Darwin's "torment" to light. As a devoutly religious man during the oppressively Christian Victorian era, it took uncommon fortitude and intellectual honesty for him to follow the paths down which his researches led him, all the way to the ultimate conclusions which today bear his name.

Much like H.W. Brands's biography of Benjamin Franklin, the authors here do an excellent job of bringing Darwin back to life, both the highs and the lows (including lots of personal tragedy) that shaped his monumental career. Heartbreak played as great a role in his life as discovery.

Compulsively readable without sacrificing detail, all of the major milestones of his life are covered in a personal perspective which gives exactly as much emphasis as events must have had at the time -- even ones which have since reached mythic proportions. This is, as Steven Jay Gould touts on the cover, "Unquestionably, the finest [biography] ever written about Darwin..."

Darwin: the life of a tormented evolutionist, the title says it all. Desmond and Moore work around the idea of the tormented evolutionist as a central theme in this magnus opus of Darwins life. The reader is taken on a journey through Darwin as a young lad, collecting shells and minerals, to the debilitated, ailing old man who writes non-stop on many aspects of natural history from selection to a complete and still used encyclopedia on barnacles to orchids and earthworms. But this is not an essay merely about the life and accomplishments of Charles Darwin, it is a story about science and society in the 1800's England. Desmond and Moore create a scene of Darwin getting swept up in the events of Victorian England. They illustrate a man torn by his religious convictions and the interpretations of what all the evidence from his life's research points toward. I relished in getting to know other famous scientists such as Hooker, Wallace, Romanes, Spencer, Tyndall and Huxley, and many others from that time who were among Darwin's followers and critics (i.e. Owen, Agassiz, Duke of Argylle, Mivart, Wilberforce)

A highly enjoyable book for people from all backgrounds and an absolute must read for anyone not so much interested in the complete biography of Darwin's life, but for people interested in the history and philosophy of Victorian England's science.

This is one hell of a riveting biography. I've often read biographies of really interesting people, but the writing is so turgid or lackluster, that I find myself wishing a better writer would tackle this story and do it right. Not so with this one, this is a phenomenal book.

Desmond and Moore completely abolish the traditional way of doing historiography: they do away with the Internalist/Externalist dichotomy that either considers scientific knowledge as mere conceptual change, and thus regards historical reconstruction as internal to the theories, or considers science a strict social product, exempt from the theoretical biases. Desmond and Moore include everything that has a causal significance in the life of Darwin as both a scientist and man living in the 19th century. They manage to give the most complete reconstruction ever of biological history's most transcendental event: the development of Darwin's theory of Evolution. And believe me, as a biologist, I've read tons on Darwin. It is so masterfully written, that it is hard to limit myself to the five star rating: I would give it more!

Masterful prose describing one of histories most important and enigmatic geniuses. I cannot wait to read Adrian Desmond's biography about Thomas Huxley. May I strongly suggest that anyone who enjoys this biography try reading a copy of Darwin's "The Origin of Species". It requires perseverance and a contemplative mind, but the rewards of understanding this seminal work repay the effort.

I chose to read this book because I had never read anything about Charles Darwin other than textbook accounts and biased works by anti-evolutionist authors. This book not only changed my views about evolution, but left me with a profound respect for Mr. Darwin. I am going to continue on with reading Origin of Species! This book is well worth the time it takes to read it!

Desmond and Moore go beyond some of the "psycho-history" poularizers that seem to hang on to the fringes of evolutionary biology these days, but there is still a whiff of the analyst's couch in too much of this book. The title gives away the bias from the first, so we can't say we weren't warned, but it is odd that Desmond and Moore seem to ignore the enormous amount of evidence (often in his own words) of Darwin the Contented Naturalist, Darwin the Excited Traveller (I strongly encourage anyone really interested in Darwin to go look at Phil Darlington's delightful cartoon of "Chas" Darwin "Hanging Out" at Cambridge in Darlington's wonderful "Evolution for Naturalists") Darwin the Family Man (read Raverat's Period Piece, etc.) The chapters continue in the same vein (Paradise & Punishment, Mental Rioting, Murder, Ugly Facts, etc.) and while they draw heavily on one side of Darwin and darwiniana it is only the one side. For my money Janet Browne's biography is head and shoulders above this -if only she would finish it!

While reading evolution books ranging from popular like Darwin's Dangerous Idea: Evolution and the Meanings of Life to specialized like Evolution: The First Four Billion Years and Encyclopedia of Evolution: 2 volume set I felt the need to read Darwin's biography. My first encounter with Darwin was even before a primary school when I was looking at illustrations to his voyages in a library. Later, during my school years in Soviet Union, I saw a movie about him. I vividly remember a Wilberforce and FitzRoy scene. So you might imaging that I was very keen to read 680 page book (not counting notes and bibliography). Unfortunately I found it a bit boring and written in a difficult language compared to other biographies I read in English. May be the language was chosen deliberately to emulate Victorian epoch?

Almost in the middle of reading this book I stumbled across another book: The Darwin Conspiracy: Origins of a Scientific Crime and reading the latter (it's like a thriller and you can download the free PDF from the publisher) gave me an impulse to continue reading Darwin's biography with a critical eye. Looking at the same facts your can always interpret them differently and the conspiracy book reminded me to read behind the lines more carefully and remember about politics in science and class issues in society. I'm very interested in memetic engineering Darwin used to delicately arrange and propagate his ideas. The biography mentions Wallace in passing a few times but there is no discussion about the priority and the crucial Linnean Society meeting is not in the focus and doesn't grab any attention.

One fact I didn't know before reading this biography is that Darwin was always sick. Now "tormented evolutionist" phrase acquires the new meaning to me. I also got the feeling that Darwin's hesitation to publish his ideas (if he had any to publish) was caused by sickness as well. Actually the sickness was the main focus of the book. However I really wonder how could such a sick man (as described) could write that huge amount of correspondence, do research and write many books.

One quote I found at the end of the book says that Darwin would not approve an anti-religious stance:

"Moreover though I am a strong advocate for free thought on all subjects, yet it appears to me (whether rightly or wrongly) that direct arguments against christianity & theism produce hardly any effect on the public; & freedom of thought is best promoted by the gradual illumination of men's minds, which follows from the advance of science. It has, therefore, been always my object to avoid writing on religion, & I have confined myself to science. I may, however, have been unduly biassed by the pain which it would give some members of my family, if I aided in any way direct attacks on religion."

The quote got my attention probably because I recently read another book: The Selfish Genius: How Richard Dawkins Rewrote Darwin's Legacy.

Thanks,
Dmitry Vostokov
Literate Scientist Blog