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What about Darwin?: All Species of Opinion from Scientists, Sages, Friends, and Enemies Who Met, Read, and Discussed the Naturalist Who Changed the World

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What I hoped this book would be is a sort of "Bartlett's Darwin Quotations," containing both friendly and hostile quotes about the man and his theory. As such, the book would be a useful compendium for writers looking for a piquant quote to make their point. Unfortunately, my hope for this book is unrealized.

"What about Darwin?" is indeed a book of quotes about Darwin by friendly and hostile sources, but its usefulness lies elsewhere. If you are a historian looking into the reception-history of Darwin's ideas, as well as primary sources describing the man, this is the first book you need to read. Glick organizes the quotes by last name and puts an asterix next to the names of people quoted elsewhere in the text. This allows the reader to uncover the social networks in 19th-century England and North America that helped disseminate Darwin's ideas, and critiques of those ideas.

Unfortunately, in my opinion, many of the quotes have little usefulness beyond that limited purpose. Take, for example, the entry on P.T. Barnum. Barnum, described as an "American Circus Impressario," was eminently quotable. Glick doesn't quote Barnum on Darwin, however. He quotes George Templeton Strong and an advertisement about Barnum's "What is IT?" exhibit, as well as the April 18, 1873, issue of the "Brooklyn Eagle" on Barnum's contribution to natural history. As illustration of reception-history, these quotes work well to show how Darwin's ideas were transmitted to and perceived by popular culture. But what else is a writer to make of Strong's quote: "Stopped at Barnum's on my way downtown to see the much advertised non-descript, the 'What-is-it.' [...] The creature's [...] anatomical details are fearfully simian, and he's a great fact for Darwin"?

There are far better quote's in the book, of course. But there's also a lot of this stuff.

As I said, these quotes are useful for a very narrow purpose. But if you're a writer looking for something like "Bartlett's Darwin Quotations," this is not the book for you.

This is a collection of opinions expressed by key figures in the history about Darwin's theory of evolution, which reflects on how his theory touched their minds and hearts. Darwin influenced a very wide range of people from all fields. Examples include; Pope Pius IX, Albert Einstein, Werner Heisenberg, Mahatma Gandhi, President Abraham Lincoln, President Theodore Roosevelt, President Woodrow Wilson, Lenin, Stalin, John Maynard Keynes, Bertrand Russell, Charles Dickens, and many others. Many were Darwin's enemies, some ridiculed his theory, and many became evolutionists. The Wilberforce - Huxley debate at Oxford in July 1860 was a turning point in the acceptance of Darwinism in England. Most of the elite had been won over in first few months of his publication, "On the origin of species."

A summary of some of the comments of his admirers and his critics are as follows: I very much like physicist Ernst Mach's criticism of Darwin in which he observes that if preservation of species had been more important than adaptation, struggle for survival, and evolution; then species would move in a vicious circle like "perpetual motion" in physics. Albert Einstein provides a cautionary note in his opinion that human beings should not confuse the struggle for survival as a justification to dominate another human being for economic reasons. Einstein praises the depth of Darwin's investigation into the natural history of life. German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche presents a notoriously anti-English, and highly critical of Darwin's theory, and uses the word "mediocre spirit" and "mediocre Englishman" few times in his criticism. Physicist Werner Heisenberg observes that evolution of a complex molecular structure from simple molecules needs not only the laws of physics and chemistry but also the key concepts of evolution enunciated by Darwin. Clergyman Henry Beecher was the first minister of a Christian church in United States to accept Darwin's theory as the truthful description of natural history, and he is known to have used his sermon on March 11, 1860 to express his support. But the opposition in church was also widespread. Evangelist Billy Sunday ridiculed Darwin's theory of evolution and called fellow scientists who support Darwin as "feeble minded." He called Christians who believe in evolution are essentially nonbelievers of the Word of God.

The Darwin's correspondence project ([...]) and the Darwin online (www.Darwin-online.org.uk) also provide useful info about numerous Darwin's letters. At the end of the book, having read 442 criticisms, the reader gets an idea of how much his theory stirred the minds of people. It also gives a picture of various aspects of his life, his work, and his personality. Recently there have been many reports suggesting that Darwin's family had ill effects of inbreeding, but in spite of his poor health conditions and personal tragedies, Darwin had lasting effect on the way we think about our origin and our natural history.

1. The Origin Of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition

As well-researched, carefully thought out, and jam packed as this book is, I thought I would like it a lot more, or at least, I thought I would read through the whole thing. (Disclaimer: I did not.) But, I feel that this book would really have been a lot more interesting, or at least readable, had it been organized in a different fashion. Unfortunately, Mr. Glick has gone to all the trouble of finding a bunch of funny, intriguing, thought-provoking, debate-inducing comments concerning Darwin and his theories, then simply put them in alphabetical order of the people who made the various pronouncements. This makes the book almost unreadable, despite the thorough cross-referencing intended for the reader who wishes to follow a specific path. (I tried it; it makes for tedious, cumbersome reading.) I would have preferred to see the comments arranged in chapters based around specific themes or types of comments. That would have made the book flow. Then, the author could just put an index at the back for the reader who wished to cover things by speaker/writer instead of subject. In fact, even a chronological arrangement would have been more interesting, as that would have allowed the reader to see how the perception and influence of Darwin and his theories changed over the years. As it is, it feels like the author is trying to capitalize on the ongoing debate between creationism and evolution by cobbling this book together and throwing it into the mix. I will say: the subject matter is interesting enough that I'm sure it will serve as a great reference manual or waiting room book in some biology professor's office, but I found it unreadable in any other context.

If you are more into the theory and the current controversy of evolution versus creationism, check out The Selfless Gene: Living with God and Darwin. It has a lot of new viewpoints to bring to the discussion of God and creationists versus evolution and scientists.

I was mistakenly expecting this book to be a history of Darwinian thought and a discussion of the debate surrounding his revolutionary ideas, to be read from front to back like a normal book. Instead, it is a reference book/anthology of quotes, arranged alphabetically by the author's last name. As such, it's not very useful for a lay audience to read in a linear fashion and is more suited towards academic uses. In it is an exhaustive collection of quotes and references, from Darwin's contemporaries up to the present day, written by peers, novelists, political leaders, etc, including Mao Zedong and Mahatma Gandhi. For each person listed, a description is given of who they are as well as the years of their life.

Some entries are very short (a paragraph). Most are about a page or a page and a half. Some entries are not directly about Darwin or his ideas at all. They just mention his name in passing, but are included. For example, one noblewoman talks about how he was invited to stay as a guest and stunk up the house boiling down a specimen for its bones. Mao's entry is an excerpt of speech or text about how to handle contradictions within the Communist party and only mentions Darwin's name once. It's not about Darwin.

For students and scholars doing research on Darwin's life, this book is extremely helpful. If I were writing a research paper, this would be one of the first places I'd look for material. For a lay audience, you may find the book to be very dry and of limited use.

This book puts Darwin in context by presenting what numerous other people from various walks of life said about him and his ideas. In the process, we also learn a lot about the culture in which Darwin lived, as well as how subsequent cultures were influenced by Darwin. Much of what these people said will sound familiar, but you're likely in for some surprises as well.

I recommend this book as a uniquely useful resource for people who are interested in Darwin specifically or the history of science/biology generally. This isn't a book to be read cover to cover (unless your interest is that strong), but rather dipped into somewhat randomly, perhaps emphasing commentators you're already familiar with (but don't miss the comments by Alfred Russel Wallace).

In order to truly appreciate and enjoy this book, I believe you would have to be someone who is a serious fan of the English naturalist. These quotations by mostly world-renowned notables, truly expand Darwin's theory of evolution to areas Darwin probably never considered.

Thoughts about Darwin and his work are expressed in letters, poetry, speeches and plays. Quotations are given by authors, psychologists, clergymen, geneticists, and philosophers to name a few.

The comments are personal and thoughtful and display the author's views as much as Darwin's. What About Darwin, is not an easy read. The entries demand you concentrate and have some understanding of, not only Darwin, but the writer.

This is not a book about Darwin's theory of evolution. It is a biographical dictionary that allows the reader to pick a familiar name and search to see if they had any observations about Darwin and his theory of evolution that warranted inclusion in the book.

There are 422 entries that will provide the reader with a wonderful overview of Darwin's life, work, and personality as viewed by an eclectic group of individuals from virtually all walks of life. There are entries from politicians, poets, economists, philosophers, clerics, musicians, and a host of others ranging from Stalin to Yeats; from Ruskin to Roosevelt; and Dickens to Wilde.

The book will provide the reader with a clear picture of Darwin's work and the reception it received when first published.

Both supporters and detractors are included but I was especially taken with the almost unanimous description of Darwin's character. He was described wuthout fail as being kind, gracious, sincere, humble, and "beautifully benignant, sublimely simple" (Henry James).

This is a very good reference book with the added feature of being a biographical dictionary. Some say it is not for everybody and perhaps that is so. However, if the reader takes the time to search out observations by renowned personages of a person that truly changed the world they may find they will truly enjoy this work.

This scholarly book is not "about Darwin," but is instead "about the dissemination and acceptance of Darwin's ideas." As the Preface and Introduction explain, Darwin's ORIGIN OF SPECIES (published on November 22, 1859) was eagerly discussed from its very first day by "affinity groups" composed of networks of highly educated individuals. These individuals included naturalists, zoologists, social theorists, politicians, economists, educators, scientists, philosophers, theologians, artists, novelists, poets, and musicians. Consequently, Darwin's theories were spread extremely rapidly, worldwide, and were also incorporated rapidly into the thinking of most members of the educated elite of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

For the most part, the quotations in this book do not describe the reactions of individuals, pro or con, to the validity of Darwin's ideas and theories. Rather, the quotations illustrate how Darwin's theories have already become a part of the thought processes of the quoted individuals, and how Darwin's ideas have already influenced the world views of those individuals. For example, Havelock Ellis remarks, within a lengthy quote, that "War, we are told, is a manifestation of the "Struggle for Life"; it is the inevitable application to mankind of the Darwinian 'law' of natural selection." Also, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes states, in A STUDY IN SCARLET: "Do you remember what Darwin says about music? He claims that the power of producing and appreciating it existed among the human race long before the power of speech was arrived at." And Vladimir Lenin points out that ". . . the comparison with Darwin is perfectly accurate; CAPITAL is nothing but 'certainly closely interconnected generalizing ideas crowning a veritable Mont Blanc of factual material.'"

The book is organized as a biographical dictionary, with the quotations presented in alphabetical order according the surnames of the quoted individuals. The years of birth and death are included with each person's name, so that the reader can get a sense of whether the person was an "early adopter" of Darwin's theories, or was simply a person whose education included an introduction to or study of Darwin's ideas. Within the quotations, asterisks are included with the names of individuals mentioned in the quotations, if the mentioned individuals have their own quotations in the book. This asterisk device helps the reader understand which persons belonged to which of the numerous "affinity groups" that contributed to the dissemination of Darwin's ideas. The quoted individuals are too numerous to mention, but include Henry Adams, Saul Bellow, John Dewey, Emily Dickinson, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Anatole France, Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., James Prescott Joule, Abraham Lincoln, Alexander Macmillan, Mao Tse-tung, Benjamin Peirce, George Santayana, Billy Sunday, Thorsten Veblen, and Booker T. Washington.

The research involved is astounding, although perhaps it can be expected as a by-product of the research required by the author's previous books on Darwin, such as NEGOTIATING DARWIN, THE RECEPTION OF DARWIN IN THE IBERIAN WORLD, and THE COMPARATIVE RECEPTION OF DARWIN. This book is an excellent sourcebook and starting point for any scholar who is intrigued by the impact and influence of Darwin on 19th and 20th century thinking. It is also appropriate "bedtime reading" for anyone who is a serious student of Darwin and his works.

The idea behind this book is that Darwin influenced a vast range of people. The author mostly used two kinds of documents. First, reminiscences or accounts of first readings of Darwin. Second, he used reports of visits to Darwin.

This is a reference book/anthology of quotes, arranged alphabetically by the author's last name. In it is a collection of quotes and references, from Darwin's contemporaries up to the present day, written by peers, novelists, political leaders... including P.T. Barnum, James Garfield, H.G. Wells, and Mahatma Gandhi. The quotations trace a broad conversation about Darwin, revealing his influence on the great thinkers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.

Some entries are as short as a paragraph, most are around a page in length.

I found "What about Darwin?: All Species of Opinion from Scientists, Sages, Friends, and Enemies Who met, Read, and Discussed the Naturalist Who Changed the World" to be somewhat of a bore. I had expected more papers and articles written specifically about Darwin as well as letters to and from.

What this book contains, or seems to contain, is every blasted mention of Darwin, even in passing, ever written, printed, or recorded. You may find several paragraphs in one reference while another gives you a few sentences leaving you shaking your head wondering why it was so important to be printed in this book.

I found it more interesting to simply pick up the book from time to time, open it randomly, and read whatever I happened upon.

If you are writing a paper on Darwin this is an excellent resource for you. For a casual read I found much of it quite dry with a sprinkling of very interesting references. Overall, I was disappointed as I was looking for something other than what this book gave me.