BOOKS & ARTS

Darwin’s Sacred Cause by Adrian

Desmond and James Moore

Allen Lane, £25

Reviewed by Rowan Hooper

FOR someone who came up with what has justly been described as “the single best idea anyone has ever had”, Darwin has been vilified to an

extraordinary degree. Clearly, his achievement of uniting all species under a common ancestor outraged millions, and still does .

Adrian Desmond and James Moore have come up with something astonishing: a radical new explanation of the force that drove Darwin. I hesitate to call this work definitive, as that was how the same authors’ epic biography was described in 1991. I wouldn’t have thought it possible to further elevate the standing Darwin and his work already have, but by trawling through reams of correspondence Desmond and Moore have done it. This book spectacularly humanises him, showing how he was motivated by the great moral cause of his day: opposition to slavery.

Darwin’s family was passionately abolitionist and he continually mixed with people devoted to the cause. On his travels aboard the Beagle he was outraged by the slavery he encountered. The suffering he saw during those five years left a bigger impression than, say, the Galapagos finches .

While we know Darwin’s ideas on overpopulation and competition were influenced by Thomas Malthus , few have appreciated how, in Desmond and

Darwin’s inspirationA striking new analysis of Darwin’s thought reveals the battle over slavery as a seminal influence

BOOKS & ARTS

Moore’s words, his “emancipation of all life from its Creative chains” was driven by a passionate desire to see slaves liberated from their masters. And while the industrial revolution is recognised as a major influence, the effect of the gigantic and powerful slave trade has been ignored. Yet arguments about the races were at the forefront of intellectual and political debate, and supporters of the slave trade justified their position with the pseudoscientific notion that the different races of humans were different species.

After the Beagle voyage, Darwin filled notebooks with his ideas, and in 1837 sketched a genealogical pedigree, his earliest thoughts on the origin of species. The authors show how this was triggered by his belief in the common descent of all humans. It wasn’t until 1871 that he published his ideas in full form. If this book has the impact it deserves, look forward to another celebration in 2021, on the 150th anniversary of The Descent of Man. Darwin was not merely a meticulous scientist, he was a passionate humanitarian.

Great ends

Darwin’s Island by Steve Jones ,

Little, Brown, £20

Reviewed by John Whitfield

IT IS said you can find a quote in the Bible to support whatever point of view you care to take. Darwin’s Island made me think that this

might be one thing that the words of the good book and the work of Darwin have in common.

Steve Jones takes Darwin’s lesser-known books, such as The Descent of Man and The Power of Movement in Plants, based on his work at home in Down House , and uses them as a departure point for a tour of a huge swathe of biology, from earthworms to obesity. Who knew, for example, that Darwin discovered the first hormone, in plants?

The unifying theme of Darwin’s work, Jones argues, is “the power of small means, given time, to produce gigantic ends”. Darwin’s Island broadens our appreciation of Darwin beyond the Beagle and On the Origin of Species, and shows that he deserves to be thought of as the father of the life sciences, not just evolution.

Epic adventure

Remarkable Creatures by Sean B.

Carroll , Quercus, £16.99

Reviewed by Priya Shetty

DARWIN’S musings on the origin of species did not spring fully formed from his mind. Sean B. Carroll offers the back-story,

weaving palaeontology, naturalism and molecular biology into an epic, enjoyable adventure. While Darwin inevitably stars, visionaries like Alfred Russel Wallace are also given their due.

48 | NewScientist | 7 February 2009

BIL

L S

AN

DE

RS

ON

/SP

L

Darwin

200