Easton Press, Ronald W. Clark "The Survival of Charles Darwin" Leather Bound Collector's Edition

Those who have read Clark's biography of Einstein, will find his study of Darwin and of his theory of wonderful interest. Clark was truly a master of the biographer's art. A thoroughly researched book that gives insight into Darwin as a kindly country gentleman who spent his life in earnest study of nature - indeed of the processes of survival. The book does not end at Darwin's death but continues on to examine the impact of his work and the development of knowledge about heredity well into the late twentieth century.

A study of Darwin's life and the legacy of Darwinism introduces the many individuals who have perpetuated and extended the controversial theory of evolution.

About the author

Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.

Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College) encouraged his passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.