Young Charles Darwin
Keith Stewart Thomson
(Author)
Description
What sort of person was the young naturalist who developed an evolutionary idea so logical, so dangerous, that it has dominated biological science for a century and a half? How did the quiet and shy Charles Darwin produce his theory of natural selection when many before him had started down the same path but failed? This book is the first to inquire into the range of influences and ideas, the mentors and rivals, and the formal and informal education that shaped Charles Darwin and prepared him for his remarkable career of scientific achievement.
Keith Thomson concentrates on Darwin's early life as a schoolboy, a medical student at Edinburgh, a theology student at Cambridge, and a naturalist aboard the Beagle on its famous five-year voyage. Closely analyzing Darwin's Autobiography and scientific notebooks, the author draws a fully human portrait of Darwin for the first time: a vastly erudite and powerfully ambitious individual, self-absorbed but lacking self-confidence, hampered as much as helped by family, and sustained by a passion for philosophy and logic. Thomson's account of the birth and maturing of Darwin's brilliant theory is fascinating for the way it reveals both his genius as a scientist and the human foibles and weaknesses with which he mightily struggled.
Product Details
| Publisher | Yale University Press |
| Publish Date | October 19, 2010 |
| Pages | 288 |
| Language | English |
| Type |  Paperback / softback |
| EAN/UPC | 9780300167894 |
| Dimensions | 9.1 X 5.8 X 0.7 inches | 0.9 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"Thomson, who manages to be stylish, scholarly and entertaining all at the same time, investigates Darwin's early years and how he arrived at his revolutionary ideas."--Scientific American
"A subtle and scrupulous account of what Darwin learned as a young man . . . and how this differed from what he was prepared, as an old sage, to admit to having been taught."--Andrew Brown, New Statesman
"It has always irked me that Darwin is known by the iconic image of him as a bearded ancient being, when his world-changing ideas came to him as a virile young man. Happily, this book redresses the balance."--Rowan Hooper, New Scientist
"What we have here is not just a specific study of how Darwin came to write what he did but a general study into the working of a mind."--Contemporary Review
"[In] this well-written and interesting book, Thomson works out and demonstrates in detail the education of Charles Darwin. He removes that apparent discrepancy between the 'ordinary boy' and the man buried in Westminster Abbey nearby that other English genius, Isaac Newton."--Léo F Laporte, Reports of the National Center for Science Education
"Thomson delivers a lively account of how this naive young student became the iconoclastic bearer of 'the most dangerous idea of the past two hundred years.' . . . Drawing on his letters, diary entries and autobiographical work as well as his public intellectual struggles, Thomson's angle on Darwin's early life is fresh and vivid."--Publishers Weekly
"Thomson's writing style is fluid and engaging and his grasp of the Darwinian literature encyclopedic. His scholarly thoroughness is balanced by his very human appreciation for a very human scientist. . . . Highly recommended."--R. Gilmour, Choice
"Written in a highly accessible style that will appeal to a wide range of readers. . . . There is much of value here."--Catherine Day and James G. Lennox, Review Forum on Charles Darwin and Darwiniana
"I have never seen a Darwin biography with such a richly detailed account of the scientific and educational milieu in which the young naturalist was nurtured and that formed the basis for his ideas and achievements. And the whole is written in the flowing, accessible, entertaining, nontechnical style that has graced Thomson's other books."--Richard Milner, author of Darwin's Universe: Evolution from A to Z
"Keith Thomson's fresh and lively account will surely bring Darwin back into focus as an exceptional scholar, traveler, family man, and author. Highly recommended."--Janet Browne, author of Charles Darwin: Voyaging and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place
"The image of Darwin as the doddering old sage of Down, taking his daily constitutional walks about the backyard sand path thinking deep thoughts about the philosophical implications of evolution, has become so iconic that we forget what he was like in his youth and prime. Keith Thomson has brilliantly resurrected the young Charles Darwin, revealing the inchoate mind of a genius in the early stages of countless starts and stops, hunches and hypotheses. This compelling narrative reminds us of how creativity and insight really begin."--Michael Shermer, publisher, Skeptic magazine, monthly columnist, Scientific American, author of Why Darwin Matters
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