Imagined correspondence of the author with Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin stands as an icon in the history of science; a man who completely changed the direction of modern thought by establishing the basis of evolutionary biology. These letters offer a fascinating window onto the scientific observations, personal concerns and friendships of a great thinker, affording a unique glimpse of Darwin as both naturalist and family man. From his early years at Edinburgh University up to the publication of The Origin of Species in 1859, the letters in this volume chart the most exciting years of Darwin's life.

My dear Darwin, I have just finished your volume and right glad I am that I did my best with Hooker to persuade you to publish it without waiting for a time which probably could never have arrived, though you lived till the age of a hundred, when you had prepared all your facts on which you ground so many grand generalizations. It is a splendid case of close reasoning, and long substantial argument throughout so many pages; the condensation immense, too great perhaps for the uninitiated, but an effective and important preliminary statement, which will admit, even before your detailed proofs appear, of some occasional useful exemplification, such as your pigeons and cirripedes, of which you make such excellent use.

VOLUME I PREFACE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES DARWIN. VOLUME I. CHAPTER 1.I. — THE DARWIN FAMILY. CHAPTER 1.II. — AUTOBIOGRAPHY. CHAPTER 1.III. — REMINISCENCES OF MY FATHER'S EVERYDAY LIFE. CHAPTER 1.IV. — CAMBRIDGE LIFE. CHAPTER 1.V. — THE APPOINTMENT TO THE 'BEAGLE.' CHAPTER 1.VI. — THE VOYAGE. CHAPTER 1.VII. — LONDON AND CAMBRIDGE. 1836-1842. CHAPTER 1.VIII. — RELIGION. CHAPTER 1.IX. — LIFE AT DOWN. 1842-1854. CHAPTER 1.X. — THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' Chapter I. "On the kind of intermediateness necessary, and the number Chapter II. "The gradual appearance and disappearance of organic Chapter III. "Geographical Distribution." Corresponds to Chapters XI. Chapter IV. "Affinities and Classification of Organic beings." Chapter V. "Unity of Type," Morphology, Embryology. Chapter VI. Rudimentary Organs. These three chapters correspond to Chapter XII. of the 'Origin.' Chapter VII. Recapitulation and Conclusion. The final sentence of the CHAPTER 1.XI. — THE GROWTH OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' LETTERS, 1843-1856. CHAPTER 1.XII. — THE UNFINISHED BOOK. MAY 1856 TO JUNE 1858. CHAPTER 1. XIII. — THE WRITING OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' JUNE 18, 1858, TO NOVEMBER, 1859. CHAPTER 1.XIV. — BY PROFESSOR HUXLEY. ON THE RECEPTION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' VOLUME II. CHAPTER 2.I. — THE PUBLICATION OF THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES.' OCTOBER 3, 1859, TO DECEMBER 31, 1859. CHAPTER 2.II. — THE 'ORIGIN OF SPECIES' (continued). 1860. CHAPTER 2.III. — SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. 1861-1862. CHAPTER 2.IV. — THE SPREAD OF EVOLUTION. 'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS' CHAPTER 2.V. — THE PUBLICATION OF THE 'VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION.' JANUARY 1867, TO JUNE 1868. CHAPTER 2.VI. — WORK ON 'MAN.' 1864-1870. CHAPTER 2.VII. — PUBLICATION OF THE 'DESCENT OF MAN.' WORK ON 'EXPRESSION.' CHAPTER 2.VIII. — MISCELLANEA CHAPTER 2.IX. — MISCELLANEA (continued) CHAPTER 2.X. — FERTILISATION OF FLOWERS. CHAPTER 2.XI. — THE 'EFFECTS OF CROSS- AND SELF-FERTILISATION IN THE VEGETABLE KINGDOM.' CHAPTER 2.XII. — 'DIFFERENT FORMS OF FLOWERS ON PLANTS OF THE SAME SPECIES.' 1877. CHAPTER 2.XIII. — CLIMBING AND INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS. CHAPTER 2.XIV. — THE 'POWER OF MOVEMENT IN PLANTS.' 1880. CHAPTER 2.XV. — MISCELLANEOUS BOTANICAL LETTERS. 1873-1882. CHAPTER 2.XVI. — CONCLUSION.

"Quammen brilliantly and powerfully re-creates the 19th century naturalist's intellectual and spiritual journey."--Los Angeles Times Book Review Twenty-one years passed between Charles Darwin's epiphany that "natural selection" formed the basis of evolution and the scientist's publication of On the Origin of Species. Why did Darwin delay, and what happened during the course of those two decades? The human drama and scientific basis of these years constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that elucidates the character of a cautious naturalist who initiated an intellectual revolution.