Charles Darwin at 200

Next year will be a feast for fans of Charles Darwin and purveyors of all types of Darwinalia, for February 12, 2009, marks the bicentennial of the great scientist's birth. The Darwin Year is also the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work, On the Origin of Species.

Derived from the author's popular "Darwin Days" campus lectures, this succinct biography spans Darwin's life in 15 brief chapters and reads like a museum guide, hitting the high points in an easily assimilated style. The copious illustrations, though, including reproductions of period paintings, title page facsimiles, and many of the author's own photographs, are worth poring over and may hold readers' attention longer than it takes to peruse the text. Patrons who want a quick, no-frills but still authoritative read on Darwin's life couldn't find a better source.

In addition to Darwin's scholarly books and articles, his voluminous letters make him perhaps the most prolific correspondent in the history of science. This body of work has been edited and presented selectively in a variety of sources, most notably the projected-32-volume Correspondence of Charles Darwin (Cambridge Univ., 1985-), and can be viewed at Darwin Online (darwin-online.org.uk). What, then, is the value of these three new epistolary anthologies? The linchpin is the editorship of the late Burkhardt, founder of the Darwin Correspondence Project. Throughout, his careful selections, accompanied by clarifying footnotes, provide context and connections for the separate entries so that they can be read as a continuous narrative. Origins begins with a 12 year old's diary entries about his brother's rude behavior and proceeds chronologically, one chapter per one year's smattering of abridged correspondence. Included are letters on Darwin's studies, his family and personal life, and various reflections on subjects as varied as barnacles and poultry. Evolution picks up where Origins leaves off, with Darwin squarely in the midst of the public controversy surrounding his evolutionary theories. The methods of Darwin's genius are especially evident in his personal writings answering critics. Still, both books are essentially samplers, and, while enlightening, serve dilettante interests rather than scholarly needs.

By comparison, the sections in Origins covering Darwin's Beagle correspondence contain around two dozen significant letters, while the much more expansive The Beagle Letters reprints over 200 from that same period, with details on every port of call. The scrutiny of this period (1831–36) is appropriate in that these were formative years when Darwin conducted the major field research that led to his formulation of evolutionary theories. These letters also tell a gripping tale of high seas adventure and exploration.

As a milestone not only in the history of science but also in cultural history, On the Origin of Species belongs in every library, high school and above. Nature writer Quammen (The Reluctant Mr. Darwin) offers a gloriously illustrated and richly annotated volume, which testifies to the book's enduring legacy. Throughout the text, relevant sidebars from other of Darwin's writings, including his Autobiography, field notes from the HMS Beagle, and his myriad letters, are presented for their insight. Illustrations include historical images, such as sketches, woodcuts, and portraits of people and places, but also included are contemporary photographs of the flora and fauna that Darwin described. Between the contextual additions and the edifying illustrations, there is no comparable volume. For all libraries.

Perhaps because he left behind such an extensive chronicle of his own writings, Darwin, the man, has inspired abundant literature aiming to understand the workings of his mind, his personal passions, and his inner demons; for example, the authors' The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist. In a similar vein, their newest book reinterprets much of his life work as having been motivated by an altruistic humanitarian vision and an equally intense abhorrence of slavery. Drawing from a wealth of documentary sources from the era, they explore how the Enlightenment's scientific objectivity coexisted with colonial racism and how Darwin uniquely honed his science according to a set of values that he hoped could provide a transcendent vision of a "great human family," as presented in The Descent of Man. Well researched, likely to be controversial (some will call it revisionist history), this book provides another enlightening glimpse into a life of seemingly infinite complexity.

The "long argument" over Darwinian theory has spawned unending commentary, spilling out of the natural sciences into varied realms of the social sciences and humanities. Ruse and Travis (Florida State Univ.) have assembled a broad, engaging, and useful although somewhat disjointed compendium intended to represent the entirety of that literature in a single volume. The first part contains 16 substantive, semischolarly essays on overarching topics, such as "The Origin of Life," "Paleontology and the History of Life," "Evolution and Society," and "Evolution and Religion." The book's second part contains what essentially amounts to an alphabetical encyclopedia of evolution, containing shorter essays on more focused subjects. Either part could stand alone and maybe should, because not all readers will find natural linkages from one to others.