Adrian Desmond and James Moore

Darwin

"Unquestionably the finest [biography] ever written about Darwin. . . . Darwin has now become, and properly, the quintessentially socially embedded scientist. Desmond and Moore are brilliant in their pursuit of this truly unifying theme."—Stephen Jay Gould

Hailed as the definitive biography, this monumental work explains the character and paradoxes of Charles Darwin and opens up the full panorama of Victorian science, theology, and mores. The authors bring to life Darwin's reckless student days in Cambridge, his epic five-year voyage on the Beagle, and his grueling struggle to develop his theory of evolution.

Adrian Desmond and James Moore's gripping narrative reveals the great personal cost to Darwin of pursuing inflammatory truths—telling the whole story of how he came to his epock-making conclusions.

"At last, a biography to match the man. . . . Darwin, his family, his colleagues, and his milieu come alive in this book. . . . Superbly written."—Everett Menselson, Harvard University

"A riveting tour de force that meets the need for a new biography on the grand scale. . . . Rarely have the dynamic relations between a scientist's life and his theories been so fully, so forcefully recounted."—Roy Porter, Sunday Times

"A book that makes such an astounding physical as well as cerebral impact is a very rare commodity indeed."—Anthony Burgess, Observer

"Pick is up and you are hooked, by the racy writing, the memorable turns of phrase, the historical insights and the sheer bravado of their performance."—William Bynum, New Scientist