Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Who Started a Scientific Revolution

Rating:
Summary: An accurate and engagingly written biographical account
Review: Biographer Cyril Aydon drew upon a lifetime's interest in Charles Darwin and his work to write Charles Darwin: The Naturalist Who Started A Scientific Revolution. The result is a fascinating and informative biography of the famed author of "The Origin of Species" and "The Descent of Man". It was Charles Darwin whose theories of evolution (and whose proposal that the descendants of primordial primates could, over thousands or millions of years, eventually become men through the process of natural selection) would change forever how human beings think of themselves and understand their own genesis. This accurate and engagingly written biographical account blends an overview of natural science with the events of Darwin's life before, during, and after the publication of his trailblazing scientific treatises. Charles Darwin is a very highly recommended study of a truly great man whose trailblazing contribution to biological science is still a substantial part of public debate and controversy today between religious creationists who deny, and the scientific community which supports, Darwin's concept of human evolutionary development.

Rating:
Summary: Charles Darwin, by Cyril Aydon
Review: Charles Darwin Cyril Aydon, Constable, London, 2002, 326 pp, £14.99
This unpretentious but most agreeable book takes us back to an earlier style of biography in its deliberate concentration on narrative. Opening with Montaigne's well-known disclaimer about other men's flowers, Cyril Aydon acknowledges his debt to the biographies of Darwin by Desmond and Moore and by Janet Browne, before launching into an intensely readable and well-structured 300-page account of the life and work of Charles Darwin, which makes intelligent use of the extensive Darwin correspondence. The illustrations are well chosen to give images of the central dramatis personae, the index is excellent and the essential maps are beautifully drawn. What else, then, is there to say about this admirable book?

The book is based on wide reading and a sound knowledge of the life and discoveries of Darwin. Its approach is sentimental, perhaps befitting a high Victorian topic: it is encased in the life of the 21 members of the Darwin family and throughout the book, Aydon refuses to adopt any later psychological or post-modern interpretation. In other words, the book is a sensible introduction to Darwin, written to engage the reader in a story, rather than to grind a historical, scientific or intellectual axe. It particular, Aydon abstains from speculation about the causes of Darwin's continuous ill-health. He succinctly yet intelligently demolishes suggestions that Darwin's father was anything other than a useful support to his son. Darwin's marriage is described in glowing terms, with Emma given the role of the third of Darwin's 'guardian angels', his father and Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle being the other two.

Aydon's style is fluent and clear, with occasional modern expressions, as when he reserves one of his few critical comments for Herbert Spencer's unfortunate distortion 'survival of the fittest', rightly epitomised as 'weasel words' (p.285). He has a neat turn of phrase; in his discussion of the central significance of the Darwin-Wallace interaction, he points out succinctly that 'it was Darwin who made, and threw, the bomb; but it was Wallace who lit the fuse.' Short, neat jokes abound. In a discussion with his father about his overspending of his allowance, Charles contributed 'the observation that he would be deuced clever to overspend his allowance at sea.' (p.47).

Because the book is aimed at the generalist market, it cannot offer in-depth treatment of several areas opened up recently by Darwin scholars. Indeed, one could almost say that Aydon's book is a modern re-working of the outstanding first biography by Francis Darwin, the Cambridge botanist son of Charles, which was well summarised in the 1888 volume of the Dictionary of National Biography. However, the twenty-first century perspective which Aydon adopts in his very thoughtful 'Postscript: A Backward Look' gives the reader an overview, based on twentieth-century work on genetic inheritance, which was not available to Francis Darwin. He refuses to become involved in the 'Science Wars' of Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins, apart from good judgements of their work in his bibliography.

Inevitably, this self-denying ordinance leads to gaps. There is very little comparative history of science, as Darwin's achievements are rarely compared with the work of other scientists from earlier periods, apart from the obvious comparison with Newton. An excellent discussion could be had over the impact of the slightly earlier career of Joseph Banks, a rich landowner like Darwin whose life's work entirely arose from his three-year circumnavigation of the globe with Captain Cook. Why did Darwin concentrate on barnacles and Banks on politics after their extraordinary adventures on the Beagle and the Endeavour? A paragraph on the relative sizes of the two ships would have thrown light on the achievement of both men. Aydon is interested in scientific method and offers several thoughtful analyses of Darwin's overall study methods. However, he has not compared and contrasted these with those used by earlier and contemporary natural historians. There could have been more connections between Darwin the good old-fashioned collector and curious observer, and Darwin the microscopic investigator at the cusp of modern biology, playing a central role in the development of the new scientific methods in morphology and systematics. Aydon rightly makes much of Darwin's experiments; he could have emphasised even more that he belonged to all three of E.B.Wilson's categories of biologists - bug hunters, worm slicers and egg-shakers.

The book correctly concentrates on a year-by-year account of Darwin's life and work, focussing excellently on the nineteenth-century development, exposition and reception of his theory of evolution. In other words, this entertaining biography is a fine introduction to Darwin studies. My recommendation to anyone, from 16 years old onwards, entering this field used to be that they should read On the Origin of Species, preferably in a reprint of the 1859 first edition. I would now add to this, "And you should read Aydon, too."

Dr Michael Honeybone
Research Associate
The Open University.
(814 words)

Rating:
Summary: Charles Darwin, by Cyril Aydon
Review: Charles Darwin Cyril Aydon, Constable, London, 2002, 326 pp, £14.99
This unpretentious but most agreeable book takes us back to an earlier style of biography in its deliberate concentration on narrative. Opening with Montaigne's well-known disclaimer about other men's flowers, Cyril Aydon acknowledges his debt to the biographies of Darwin by Desmond and Moore and by Janet Browne, before launching into an intensely readable and well-structured 300-page account of the life and work of Charles Darwin, which makes intelligent use of the extensive Darwin correspondence. The illustrations are well chosen to give images of the central dramatis personae, the index is excellent and the essential maps are beautifully drawn. What else, then, is there to say about this admirable book?

The book is based on wide reading and a sound knowledge of the life and discoveries of Darwin. Its approach is sentimental, perhaps befitting a high Victorian topic: it is encased in the life of the 21 members of the Darwin family and throughout the book, Aydon refuses to adopt any later psychological or post-modern interpretation. In other words, the book is a sensible introduction to Darwin, written to engage the reader in a story, rather than to grind a historical, scientific or intellectual axe. It particular, Aydon abstains from speculation about the causes of Darwin's continuous ill-health. He succinctly yet intelligently demolishes suggestions that Darwin's father was anything other than a useful support to his son. Darwin's marriage is described in glowing terms, with Emma given the role of the third of Darwin's `guardian angels', his father and Captain Fitzroy of the Beagle being the other two.

Aydon's style is fluent and clear, with occasional modern expressions, as when he reserves one of his few critical comments for Herbert Spencer's unfortunate distortion `survival of the fittest', rightly epitomised as `weasel words' (p.285). He has a neat turn of phrase; in his discussion of the central significance of the Darwin-Wallace interaction, he points out succinctly that `it was Darwin who made, and threw, the bomb; but it was Wallace who lit the fuse.' Short, neat jokes abound. In a discussion with his father about his overspending of his allowance, Charles contributed `the observation that he would be deuced clever to overspend his allowance at sea.' (p.47).

Because the book is aimed at the generalist market, it cannot offer in-depth treatment of several areas opened up recently by Darwin scholars. Indeed, one could almost say that Aydon's book is a modern re-working of the outstanding first biography by Francis Darwin, the Cambridge botanist son of Charles, which was well summarised in the 1888 volume of the Dictionary of National Biography. However, the twenty-first century perspective which Aydon adopts in his very thoughtful `Postscript: A Backward Look' gives the reader an overview, based on twentieth-century work on genetic inheritance, which was not available to Francis Darwin. He refuses to become involved in the `Science Wars' of Stephen Jay Gould and Richard Dawkins, apart from good judgements of their work in his bibliography.

Inevitably, this self-denying ordinance leads to gaps. There is very little comparative history of science, as Darwin's achievements are rarely compared with the work of other scientists from earlier periods, apart from the obvious comparison with Newton. An excellent discussion could be had over the impact of the slightly earlier career of Joseph Banks, a rich landowner like Darwin whose life's work entirely arose from his three-year circumnavigation of the globe with Captain Cook. Why did Darwin concentrate on barnacles and Banks on politics after their extraordinary adventures on the Beagle and the Endeavour? A paragraph on the relative sizes of the two ships would have thrown light on the achievement of both men. Aydon is interested in scientific method and offers several thoughtful analyses of Darwin's overall study methods. However, he has not compared and contrasted these with those used by earlier and contemporary natural historians. There could have been more connections between Darwin the good old-fashioned collector and curious observer, and Darwin the microscopic investigator at the cusp of modern biology, playing a central role in the development of the new scientific methods in morphology and systematics. Aydon rightly makes much of Darwin's experiments; he could have emphasised even more that he belonged to all three of E.B.Wilson's categories of biologists - bug hunters, worm slicers and egg-shakers.

The book correctly concentrates on a year-by-year account of Darwin's life and work, focussing excellently on the nineteenth-century development, exposition and reception of his theory of evolution. In other words, this entertaining biography is a fine introduction to Darwin studies. My recommendation to anyone, from 16 years old onwards, entering this field used to be that they should read On the Origin of Species, preferably in a reprint of the 1859 first edition. I would now add to this, "And you should read Aydon, too."

Dr Michael Honeybone
Research Associate
The Open University.
(814 words)

Rating:
Summary: Giant Scientist
Review: To read the biographies of great men has always been a fascination. Great men of sciences, technology, philosophy, politics, Charles Darwin features prominently among them, both personally to me, and in the annals of history. The biography by Aydon is a very simple yet charming story of the man who "created a scientific revolution".

Aydon presents the story of Charles Darwin in a chronological way, a standard fare in biographies, but with chapters to add the thematic approaches for the book. The author uses personal letters sent by Darwin to his friends and mentors as 'personal touches' to this biography. They add to the overall charm of the book and reveal a lot about the man and his thinking. Most helpful is a map of the Beagle's voyage, which I not infrequently referred to when reading the chapters on the round the world trip of the famous Beagle.

I personally analysed two points, which the author have emphasised throughout the book. Firstly, Darwin was helped in his success by the wealth and support of his father. There are many references in the book, to the pecuniary benefits accrued to Darwin by his father. This facilitated his rise as a devoted naturalist, who had no care and worries for material pursuits and with such wealth and support, he was able to network and make gains otherwise not possible for a poorer Darwin. Secondly, was his fortuitous inclusion in the Beagle's voyage. Had it not been for the 5-year voyage, Darwin would not have been able to realise his childhood dreams of collecting and observing specimens and most importantly, Darwin would have ended up as a clergyman.

The later part of the book, after detailing his voyage and subsequent settling down, revolves around his industry to complete his "big book" and his moral and intellectual dilemma. Not insignificant is the loving support given by Emma, Darwin's beloved wife.

Having read this book, I feel that Darwin's life was full of lucky breaks and that he was one of the sickliest scientists around. However, the industry and power he brought to his book, "The Origin of Species" made him a revolutionary scientist. This book is recommended for the neutral reader, who simply wants a good story about a giant scientist. I have a further feeling that to satisfy my curiosity about this man, a more detailed biography is essential.