The Quotable Darwin

Janet Browne is the Professor of the History of Science at Harvard, and author of an acclaimed two volume biography of Darwin. Hence she is the ideal person to compile this selection, using his own words and those of his correspondents. The book is divided into six parts: early life and voyage of the Beagle, marriage and scientific work, origin of species, mankind, on himself, and friends and family. This enables the reader to follow through emerging themes and look in more detail at more specific issues raised by his work. As one would expect, there is a very long index entry on Alfred Russel Wallace with correspondence in both directions. Following an extract defining thought as a secretion of the brain and wondering how it should be more wonderful than gravity as a property of matter, Darwin (ironically) considers in great detail the arguments for and against marriage - he does marry his cousin Emma Wedgwood. They have 10 children, and she provides a sensitive foil for his classificatory type of mind.

There is an interesting section on responses to the Origin of Species, and I was struck by John Stuart Mill defending Darwin against violating the rules of induction. He observes that induction is concerned with the condition of proof, while 'Mr Darwin has never pretended that his doctrine was proved' as he is bound rather by the rules of hypotheses - which in his view 'have seldom been more completely fulfilled.' Presciently, he adds that Darwin has 'opened a path of enquiry full of promise, the results of which none can foresee.' Some readers may already be familiar with the way Darwin described the change in the functioning of his mind. In his youth, he enjoyed poetry but was later unable to read a single line, having also lost any taste for pictures or music. Rather, his mind 'seems to have become a kind of machine for grinding general laws or large collections of facts' to the detriment of his own enjoyment. One final and I think significant observation: in an address in 1908 at the Linnean Society to commemorate the 50th anniversary of their joint discovery of natural selection, Alfred Russel Wallace remarks on the striking parallel that they were both ardent beetle hunters in their youth. He adds that the collector is impressed by the 'almost infinite number of its specific forms, the endless modifications of structure, shape, colour and surface markings that distinguish them from each other, and their innumerable adaptations to diverse environments.' He attributes enormous importance to this parallel in terms of generating the theory of natural selection. As a whole, the volume gives a fascinating and accessible insight into Darwin and his work.