The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882

Reading the memoir that Darwin wrote for his family, two qualities of the man stand out above all others. The first is his intense humanity--indeed, his lovability. He is modestly self-deprecating in a totally uncalculating way; his devotion to his father, wife, and children shines through, as does his compassion for suffering animals; and his reminiscences of childhood, youth, and young adulthood are quaintly idiosyncratic (he doesn't remember and record "big" events so much as funny or curious little ones that lodged in his memory). He comes across as an incredibly decent guy. Second, he is a scrupulously honest thinker. He abandons his early Christianity (although he admits that he was never very fervent) because his understanding of natural selection rules out the possibility of a Paleyesque divine design in nature, and he rejects the idea of eternal damnation because it seems to him hideously unjust. (The bulk of his religious reflections are found in pp. 85-96.) He is devoted to the empirical method, carefully collecting and collating years and years worth of data before drawing conclusions from them. He especially notes, he tells us, data that seem to run contrary to his hypotheses, because he knows how easy it is to "forget" such inconvenient facts. And he takes great delight in his scientific work. Curious that Darwin laments on at least two occasions that he's lost his youthful taste for poetry, art, and music. His love of the natural world surely is as artistic as scientific. I highly recommend this autobiography to all persons interested in the on-going fracas over evolution. It goes a long way to revealing the real man too often demonized by polemicists.

This reprint of Francis Darwin's edition of the Autobiography is not the full version, but is fascinating nonetheless. Francis omitted some passages in deference to his mother, Darwin's widow Emma, who marked passages that she did not want published. (Interested readers can go to Nora Barlow's 20th century edition of the Autobiography for the full text). Francis Darwin's reminiscences of his father's working habits and "everyday life" (chapter 4) are wonderful. Chapters 5-18 are largely chronologically arranged extracts from Darwin's letters with Francis's commentary.

Darwin's Autobiography serves as a good overview of his life and the major events that happened to him. While the actual autobiography itself is very short and lacks details, its a good starting point for someone wanting to learn more about Darwin. In this edition edited by his son Francis Darwin leaves out some passages about Darwin's family and married life, something one could argue as particularly telling or interesting information; if this bugs you, buy the later edition. One of the most interesting sections to me was Darwin's description of his boyhood and young adult years. It's comical to hear this scientist describe his obsession with the pastime of shooting things and his mediocre performance in school. A few things signal Darwin's observational powers or scientific inclination, such as his collection of beetles, but for the most part, he seems an ordinary young person. Also, the book continually references scientists and intellectuals of the time which Darwin comments on. Some of these people were close to Darwin, others he just mentions. Now knowing these people can be somewhat frustrating to the reading, as I can attest to. The book is very much written and directed at his children, who would be familiar with this social context. Even with these minor faults, Darwin does give insight into his own mind, something I'm sure anyone who's reading a book about Darwin is looking for. The introspection comes at the end of the book. Darwin speaks of his own reasoning capacities and ability to notice things which easily escape the observations of other men. This book is short and a I recommend it as a good place to start for getting a handle on the major events of Darwin's life and hearing Darwin's own perspective.

Even if this book weren't entertainingly written it would be an absolutely necessary read for anyone who wanted to understand Darwin the man. It IS entertaining, though, and you see a delightful sense of humor peaking through on the page. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read it almost at one sitting. Charles Gramlich Author of "Cold in the Light."

A great book both for its autobiographical voice (Darwin is surprisingly funny, especially when he describes his young life) and for the lovely extras Barlow, a descendent, has added. My personal favorite part, and one of the funniest, is the letter written by Darwin's uncle in his behalf to convince Darwin's father that letting him go on the Beagle won't be a waste. As we see the many difficulties of a guy who was, in his youth, a slacker, a major-jumper (so to speak) and a spendthrift, we wonder if maybe we aren't making to stiff a criterion for the It's fun to think about to what degree Darwin's greatness (or influence) would have been predicted, whether he was just a product of the time, and how a man can spend his life describing and defending a boat trip he took in his 20s.