The kiwi's egg : Charles Darwin and natural selection by Quammen, David, 1948- instant download

The kiwi's egg : Charles Darwin and natural selection by Quammen, David, 1948- instant download

304 pages ; 23 cm, \"Drawing from Darwin's secret notebooks and his personal letters, David Quammen has sketched a fabulous and vivid life portrait of a shy man burdened with a profoundly radical insight that was frightening even to himself.\"--Back cover, Evolution, during the early nineteenth century, was an idea in the air. Other thinkers had suggested it, but no one had proposed a cogent explanation for HOW evolution occurs. Then, in September 1838, a young Englishman named Charles Darwin hit upon the idea that 'natural selection' among competing individuals would lead to wondrous adaptations and species diversity. Twenty-one years passed between that epiphany and publication of ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. The human drama and scientific basis of Darwin's twenty-one-year delay constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that elucidates the character of a cautious naturalist who initiated an intellectual revolution. THE KIWI'S EGG is a book for everyone who has ever wondered about who this man was and what he said. Drawing from Darwin's secret 'transmutation' notebooks and his personal letters, David Quammen has sketched a vivid life portrait of the man whose work never ceases to be controversial, Includes bibliographical references and index, Home and dry: an introduction -- The fabric falls: 1837-1839 -- The kiwi's egg: 1842-1844 -- Point of attachment: 1846-1851 -- A duck for Mr. Darwin: 1848-1857 -- His abominable volume: 1858-1859 -- The fittest idea: 1860 to the future -- The last beetle: 1876-1882