This is a volume in an ongoing series of “Quotable” individuals; Jefferson and Thoreau are amongst the subjects. The subjects must have had a broad range of interests and to have left a substantial literature. They also have to be widely influential. I have not found a statement from the publisher that states this, but this is the impression I get from this book and what I know of the other subjects. The selector in this case is Janet Browne, the author of a two-volume biography of Charles Darwin (Browne, 1995/2002). There are other biographies of Darwin; I have yet to read one of them, but this book has at least got him on my “ought to read” list. Darwin is a good subject for this sort of book, as his life included exploration and travel on the Beagle and many years of semi-seclusion at Downe House. He wrote many books and very many letters. I say semi-seclusion; he had a large family and many visitors. He also wrote an autobiography.
To take one’s study of Darwin further, this book introduces the complete works of Darwin available online (Darwin Online http://darwin-online.org.uk/) which gives access to his private papers and works about him. Another major resource is the Darwin Correspondence Project (www.darwinproject.ac.uk) which puts all his letters online. It is from this wealth of text that Janet Browne has selected something like 600 quotation (based on a sample count of 20 pages) extracts from his works and also from others writing to him or about him. These are sorted into several sections: early life, marriage and scientific work, origin of species, mankind, on himself, and friends and family. These topical sections are subdivided; so mankind has human origins, race, sexual selection, morality, instincts, expression of the emotions and human society. The extracts range from single sentences to a full page. I picked through some of these on a train journey and was fascinated by the range of his thought, the way he modified his views and his private thoughts. I will only quote one comment; Darwin regrets that John Lubbock has become a Member of Parliament, because any one can do that job but only certain people can do science. I became aware that the way Darwin expressed himself might not sit well with the more language-critical members of our generation. I, however, was quite content to read the ideas as he expressed them. One of the objectives of this series must be to hear the subject as if they were alive or, in the case of this volume, as if we were a visitor to Downe House when Darwin lived there.
I had been a little cautious of reviewing this book, but it has rekindled my interest in Darwin himself. The list of sources and the online resources make this a useful book to have. It will, of course be an ideal present for a biologist.
