Few lives of great men offer so much interest, and so many mysteries, as the life of Charles Darwin. His ideas are still inspiring discoveries and controversies more than a hundred years after his death. Many believe him simply to be the greatest figure of nineteenth-century science. Janet Browne (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Browne and http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~hsdept/bios/browne.html) offers a vivid and comprehensive picture of Darwin as man and as scientist. Drawing upon much new material, supported by an acquaintance with both the intellectual setting and the voluminous sources, Browne unravels the central enigma of Darwin’s career: how did this amiable young gentleman, born into a prosperous provincial English family, grow into a thinker capable of challenging the most basic principles of religion and science? The dramatic story of Voyaging takes us from agonizing personal challenges to the exhilaration of discovery; we see a young, inquisitive Darwin gradually mature, shaping, refining, and finally setting forth the ideas that would at last fall upon the world like a nuclear weapon in On The Origin of Species (1859, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_Species).
On completion proceed to the second volume Charles Darwin: The Power of Place (first published 2002) 608 pages in Pimlico paperback edition ISBN 978-0712668378
As a warm up to the biography, listen to the 4 part Radio 4 series with Melvyn Bragg broadcast on the 150th anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species. Go to the link http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00g9zb3
656 pages in Pimlico paperback edition
First published 1995
ISBN 978-1844133147
Professor Janet Browne – brilliantly wrought by natural selection