Darwin's Origin of Species: A Biography

No book has changed our conception of ourselves more than Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species. The idea that living things, including humans, gradually evolve through natural selection is nearly as controversial today as it was upon publication over a century ago, and it remains at the heart of an intense debate between scientists and creationists. In her illuminating history of On the Origin of Species, Janet Browne, Charles Darwin's foremost biographer, shows why it can fairly claim to be the greatest science book ever published. Browne describes the long genesis of Darwin's theories, from his early readings as a university student and his five-year voyage on the Beagle, to his debates with contemporaries and experiments in his garden. What emerges is a vivid and accessible introduction to the book that permanently altered our understanding of what it is to be human.