Reviews for The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries Series)

The average rating for The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries Series) based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2020-04-03 00:00:00 Miss Patrick This book is a kind of companion volume to "The Origin of Species," though you need not have read that book to fully appreciate this one. The book covers the period after Darwin's return, in 1836, from his five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle, to his publication of "Origin" in 1859, when he was 50, to the end of life at age 73. With the help of other top scientists, most especially Charles Lyell ("Principles of Geology") and the brilliant botanist, Joseph Hooker, Darwin sifted through his treasure trove from his travels and did years of additional intensive research until he formulated his theory of evolution. Both Darwin and his co-discoverer, Alfred Russel Wallace (more on him below), focused on biogeography, i.e. the study of animal and plant distribution around the planet. They discovered island environments were ideal for this. This research addresses two simple questions: Which kinds of creatures live where, and why do they live there, but not elsewhere? What Darwin was striving to establish in his Origins of Species were the realities of natural selection and speciation. This is beautifully demonstrated by these persistent, and now renowned field scientists portrayed in this wonderful, concise film..... --------------- Alfred Russell Wallace, 15 years younger than Darwin, had no formal education, resources, or connections. He was a railway surveyor by trade. But he was also a voracious reader. He educated himself during evenings at public libraries. (See a sample list of books below, as quoted from the book) Wallace traveled into the Amazon on his own and collected all sorts of specimens and filling innumerable notebooks with data and his observations for four years, only to see his treasure trove sink to the bottom of the ocean on the ship he was to take back to Britain. After a year in England, Wallace traveled to the Malay Peninsula, an empire of islands, now known as Indonesia, where he would spend eight years collecting specimens. It would take a fit of malarial fever during this time for Wallace to experience an epiphany re: the process of natural selection. (Although Wallace did not call it that). One day, Darwin would receive a manuscript in the mail from Wallace laying out this theory. Darwin was not familiar with Wallace, but Wallace knew Darwin's reputation, which is why he sent him his paper. He did not know Darwin had been working on his theory all these years, including the last eight years on barnacles alone. Darwin was horrified. Joseph Hooker who, along with Lyell, had been urging Darwin to publish sooner, devised a plan for the theory to be announced as a joint discovery of both Darwin and Wallace. But there was a final twist. Wallace outlived Darwin by 31 years, into a time in the early 20th century when spiritualism was all the rage in England. Like Arthur Conan Doyle, Wallace got sucked into it. Unfortunately, Wallace reneged on some of the science he helped discover and formulate. ============= While conceiving his theory in the notebooks, during the late 1830s, Darwin had thought much about religion. Darwin's father was a doctor who wanted his son to also become a doctor. Darwin lasted only half a semester in med school. He turned to the church. He was a Bible literalist at the time, and figured he would become a clergyman. He bounced around classes, including a botany course with a professor who subsequently recommended him for an unpaid position aboard the HMS Beagle. After convincing his father that he would not become a deadbeat if he took this one detour, he experienced what one writer calls "perhaps the most impactful post-college gap year in history." Decades later, Darwin reflected on the process of self-discovery. "It seems ludicrous that I once intended to be a clergyman," he wrote. However, disbelief crept over Darwin at a very slow rate. "I never gave up Christianity until I was forty years of age" he said. The change came so slowly, in fact, that he'd felt no anxiety. And now that it was done, he harbored no doubts and had "never since doubted even for a single second that my conclusion was correct." Darwin's own empirical disposition had triumphed. He adopted Thomas Huxley's term, agnostic. Beyond renouncing Christian dogma, he had given up any general belief in a personal God, or any concept of what is known today as Intelligent Design. Though not original, the concept had been advocated by William Paley, an English clergyman who, like others of his ilk, treated science as an extension of theology. He used a watchmaker analogy, whereby if one somehow came upon a watch in the forest one would have to assume an intelligent watchmaker behind it. Paley saw this as an analogy to the universe. Darwin had subscribed to this in his youth, but had long since discarded it. Darwin was troubled about a much more serious matter: what about the existence of evil, in a world supposedly run by a benevolent, omnipotent deity? Darwin wrote: "There seems to me too much misery in the world." Paley acknowledged the problem (the classic Theodicy issue), but presumed there was more good than ill in the world, so God must be benevolent. "That's so illogical," Darwin wrote, that "it revolts our understanding." It was an obvious non-sequitur. Copernicus, among the great scientists of all time, is the one whose impact most closely resembled Darwin's, in that Darwin continued the revolution Copernicus began, alerting humans to the fact that we don't occupy a central position in the universe. Darwin extended that recognition from cosmology to biology The author writes…. "But let's be clear: This is not evolution versus God. The existence of God'any sort of god, personal or abstract, immanent or distant'is not what Darwin's evolutionary theory challenges. What it challenges is the supposed godliness of Man'the conviction that we above all other life forms are spiritually elevated, divinely favored, possessed of an immaterial and immortal essence, such that we have special prospects for eternity, special status in the expectations of God, special rights and responsibilities on Earth. That's where Darwin runs afoul of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and probably most other religions on the planet." Meanwhile, Darwin benefitted from a somewhat unlikely domestic bliss. His wife to be, Emma, was a sweet-spirited and pious thirty-year-old, on the brink of what in those days was considered spinsterhood, when Charles, her first cousin, proposed to her. She was a Bible-based evangelical. Their shared grandfather, Josiah Wedgwood, had made the family fortune in pottery. Emma was already aware that Charles was not religiously devout, even then. What's impressive is that, despite their theological disagreement, in a way that is almost unimaginable today, they would become deeply connected as lovers, partners in work, parents, and were each other's main source of emotional support in hard times. They were married for 43 years. "In 1882, Charles had entered the final stretch at age 73. At one point he told Emma, "I am not the least afraid to die," knowing people would wonder. At another moment, he whispered to Emma, "My love, my precious love." After several hours, he muttered, "If I could but die," and repeated the phrase like a plea, trying to let go. He dozed, he woke; they gave him a few spoonfuls of whiskey; he felt faint, and blacked out again. Then he was gone'gone in more senses than one. He left his country home in a horse-drawn hearse, headed for London." He would be buried in Westminster Abbey. Queen Victoria and Prime Minister, William Gladstone, both very pious believers, refused to attend his funeral. Another cowardly pietist, one Lady Elizabeth Hope, would concoct a phony deathbed conversion story about Darwin some 33 years after his death To this day, at least in the U.S., large numbers of people still feel threatened by Darwin's science. ============ Darwin's chronic illness is a big part of his story. It often debilitated him for long periods of time. Given what I read in this book, I think this medical historian below makes a believable case, that fits the facts, that Darwin was lactose intolerant. Not surprisingly, it was exacerbated by tremendous emotional stress while working on "The Origin of Species" A couple interesting tidbits to support this. Sometimes, in desperation, Darwin and his family would make lengthy stays at spas for "water treatment." Darwin thought his improved health was a result of the cold water regimen, but I think it was significant he was put on essentially a vegan diet when he was there (no butter, no bacon, etc.). His book came out in 1859, when he was age 50. Although he continued to publish papers, he was under less stress which also made him feel better. ========= Wallace's reading list..... "Wallace had always loved to read. He read Alexander von Humboldt's great narrative of travels in South America (which had also inspired Darwin), William Prescott's History of the Conquest of Peru, Lyell's Principles of Geology, William Swainson's A Treatise on the Geography and Classification of Animals (which described MacLeay's quinarian systematics), and John Lindley's Elements of Botany. He read Darwin's Journal twice and found it thrilling, second only to Humboldt's as a science-flavored travel narrative. He read W. H. Edwards's rollicking new book, A Voyage up the River Amazon. He read Malthus. He was curious about everything."

Review # 2 was written on 2007-05-30 00:00:00 Stuart Mark The Reluctant Mr. Darwin presents Charles Darwin the man in relief against the simplicity and near perfection of his most lasting ideas. Using Darwin's own journals and correspondence David Quammen, brings the father of evolution to life. He illustrates beautifully the birth and development of the then shocking concept of natural selection. He asserts that natural selection, not evolution is Darwin's major contribution. Quammen defines and differentiates between evolution and its mechanism natural selection. He discusses the past and current controversy around Darwin's ideas, with emphasis on current theological dissent. I was most interested in Quammen's discussion of the burdens Darwin faced. Darwin struggled with three internal difficulties; keeping his evolution ideas a secret, relentless study to find and prove the mechanism behind evolution and his subsequent or parallel loss of faith. Quammen proposes several reasons for Darwins's need to keep his ideas secret. He asks whether Darwin understood the implications of his evolution ideas. He seems to believe that Darwin did. Quammen even proposes at one point that the secret was what kept Darwin sickly. His obsession with perfecting his work, his concern over how the concept would be received and his fear of shocking his family with his lack of faith were all important factors in his reluctance to publish. Quammen's years as a science journalist give him unique insight into the effect of delivery style on public reception of information. He explores this story with a keen understanding of Darwin's need to express his ideas in just the right way. Quammen does a wonderful job of describing the influences of personages like; Malthus, Lyell, and Wallace on Darwin's work and decisions. Quammen conveys the human character of Darwin well. He speaks of Darwin's fears about money, his avoidance of funerals, and his love for billiards. He doesn't fill the page and my head with lofty notions of some demigod handing down the laws of nature. Quammen introduces to us a quiet, hard-working, carefully observant man who is at times self-obsessed. This book will be a fascinating diversion for anyone interested in the psyche and pathos of Darwin the man. It is also interesting from the perspective of one who wonders about the reconciliation of faith and reason. I was a little disappointed that for several reasons, The Reluctant Mr. Darwin excludes the HMS Beagle years. Regretfully I cannot compare Quammen's book to others on the subject, as I have not read other Darwin biographies, or Darwin's The Origin of Species. This book left me with a strong resolve to do so. This thorough and insightful book will appeal to readers from a broad spectrum of disciplines and education levels.