Darwin by Adrian Desmond; James MooreReview by: John PostgateNotes and Records of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 46, No. 2 (Jul., 1992), pp. 327-328Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/531646 .

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Book reviews Book reviews

Paget's place in 19th-century medicine and society. Roberts's book is historio- graphically flabby. In form and assump- tions it closely resembles a volume of Victorian Life and Letters: indeed, much of the text is simply lifted from The memoirs and letters of Sir James Paget, published by his son. Roberts also seems

Paget's place in 19th-century medicine and society. Roberts's book is historio- graphically flabby. In form and assump- tions it closely resembles a volume of Victorian Life and Letters: indeed, much of the text is simply lifted from The memoirs and letters of Sir James Paget, published by his son. Roberts also seems

unaware of much of the recent literature on 19th-century British medicine, a defi- ciency which prevents her from locating Paget properly within his professional context. Although an amiable book, this work does not, therefore, satisfy the need for a modem biography of Paget as a man of his times.

unaware of much of the recent literature on 19th-century British medicine, a defi- ciency which prevents her from locating Paget properly within his professional context. Although an amiable book, this work does not, therefore, satisfy the need for a modem biography of Paget as a man of his times.

Adrian Desmond & James Moore, Darwin. London: Michael Joseph, 1991. Pp. 808, £20.00. ISBN 0-3403-3

reviewed by JOHN POSTGATE, F.R.S.

Houndean Lodge, 1 Houndean Rise, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1EG

Adrian Desmond & James Moore, Darwin. London: Michael Joseph, 1991. Pp. 808, £20.00. ISBN 0-3403-3

reviewed by JOHN POSTGATE, F.R.S.

Houndean Lodge, 1 Houndean Rise, Lewes, East Sussex BN7 1EG

In Britain, as in much of Europe, the

early and mid-19th century was a period of great social, political and intellectual turbulence. The industrial revolution was transforming the countryside, crowding the cities and disrupting the social order at all levels. The right to

govern, long assumed by the duo of church and aristocracy, was being chal-

lenged. In 1848 Europe erupted in a clus- ter of radicalist revolutions and, though in Britain the threat of Chartism came to

nothing, radical political thinking was

taking root and would culminate, as the

century progressed, in the ascendancy of Liberalism and the birth of the labour movement. In philosophy and religion, freedom of thought and discussion was rampant: questions once taboo as heresy were openly discussed (in 1880 North-

ampton was to elect an avowed atheist as its M.P.); utopian, evangelist and

spiritualist groups abounded; develop-

In Britain, as in much of Europe, the

early and mid-19th century was a period of great social, political and intellectual turbulence. The industrial revolution was transforming the countryside, crowding the cities and disrupting the social order at all levels. The right to

govern, long assumed by the duo of church and aristocracy, was being chal-

lenged. In 1848 Europe erupted in a clus- ter of radicalist revolutions and, though in Britain the threat of Chartism came to

nothing, radical political thinking was

taking root and would culminate, as the

century progressed, in the ascendancy of Liberalism and the birth of the labour movement. In philosophy and religion, freedom of thought and discussion was rampant: questions once taboo as heresy were openly discussed (in 1880 North-

ampton was to elect an avowed atheist as its M.P.); utopian, evangelist and

spiritualist groups abounded; develop-

ments in Natural Philosophy (which we now call science) were followed with enthusiasm, not only by naturalists, but by non-scientific intellectuals and (more surprising to us today) by the press and its now widely based readership.

Into this mnelee was born, early in 1809, Charles Robert Darwin, grandson of Erasmus Darwin, a wealthy and free- thinking poet-physician, and son of Robert Darwin, a prosperous doctor. Though he was to become perhaps the best-known biologist of his own and subsequent generations, Charles showed little early scientific bent, only a passion for collecting biological and geological specimens. He was a healthy, unambi- tious youth, who enjoyed nature and the countryside, who disliked the medical training Robert had planned for him, and who seemed destined for that last resort of the son of a gentleman: the church. In a rural living, he could use his private

ments in Natural Philosophy (which we now call science) were followed with enthusiasm, not only by naturalists, but by non-scientific intellectuals and (more surprising to us today) by the press and its now widely based readership.

Into this mnelee was born, early in 1809, Charles Robert Darwin, grandson of Erasmus Darwin, a wealthy and free- thinking poet-physician, and son of Robert Darwin, a prosperous doctor. Though he was to become perhaps the best-known biologist of his own and subsequent generations, Charles showed little early scientific bent, only a passion for collecting biological and geological specimens. He was a healthy, unambi- tious youth, who enjoyed nature and the countryside, who disliked the medical training Robert had planned for him, and who seemed destined for that last resort of the son of a gentleman: the church. In a rural living, he could use his private

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Book reviews

wealth to pursue peacefully his natural- ist studies.

His celebrated voyage with the Beagle in 1831 came about by accident, and brought a welcome postponement of his preparation for holy orders, as well as an opportunity to extend his geologi- cal interests. The impact of the voyage on biology as a science is a matter of

history, for in its aftermath Darwin be- came convinced of the reality of biologi- cal evolution, a concept already much debated but still in need of the meticu- lous documentation he was to provide. He also came to his seminal conclusion: that natural selection - the survival of the fittest - was the mechanism of evolution. His voyage ended in 1836, and he spent the next two decades plucking up cour- age to make his new insight public. Courage was needed: he understood well the eagerness with which radicals, socialists, utopians, atheists and agnos- tics on the one hand, exploitative capi- talists and pro-slavery Tories on the other, would leap upon, and distort, as- pects of his ideas to support their particu- lar views. All were anathema to the gentlemanly, doubt-troubled Liberal, with his inflexibly Christian wife and family, himself recurrently ill from what has been posthumously diagnosed as a form of trypanosomiasis (Chagas's dis- ease) caught in 1835 on the voyage.

In addition to his publications, Dar- win left an immense archive of note- books and letters, documenting his thinking, observations and anxieties. The authors of the book under review,

both acknowledged Darwin hagiogra- phers, have compiled an exhaustive bio- graphical study (it includes 92 pages of notes and many photographs, but no ge- nealogy) which purports to relate his life to contemporary historical events; though in truth Darwin's incessant pre- occupation with his own state of health often obfuscates such links. Prosopo- graphically and historically the scholar- ship seems to be impeccable, and it ought to have been a fascinating story: that of a sickly dilettante becoming a great scientist almost by default. But it is marred by consistently bad writing: as if to liven up an otherwise tedious theme, the authors have adopted a racy hybrid of Sunday supplement psychobabble (Darwin was 'shellshocked by a blitz of existential nightmares') and facetious schoolboy slang (letters were 'fired off'; Darwin wanted to be 'genned up'; his daughter Henrietta 'swanned off for a reconnoitre' to Cannes). Actual quota- tions from Darwin's writings, which are fragmentary and seemingly chosen for quaintness, make him seem rather silly. The book's grammar and syntax are faulty, and sometimes words are simply misused; in addition, meretricious neo- logisms abound (Lyell 'agented' a plac- ing of a manuscript; Darwin's book on flower forms, a 'botanical voyeur's diary', features 'strategies for safe sex'). Only those profoundly insensitive to language will be able to read this book with pleasure.

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