{"product_id":"charles-darwinthe-power-of-place-9780679429326","title":"Charles Darwin:The Power of Place","description":"\u003cp\u003eIn 1858 Charles Darwin was forty-nine years old  a gentleman scientist living quietly at Down House in the Kent countryside  respected by fellow biologists and well liked among his wide and distinguished circle of acquaintances. He was not yet a focus of debate; his big book on species still lay on his study desk in the form of a huge pile of manuscript. For more than twenty years he had been accumulating material for it  puzzling over questions it raised  tryingit seemed endlesslyto bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. Publication appeared to be as far away as ever  delayed by his inherent cautiousness and wish to be certain that his startling theory of evolution was correct.  It is at this point that the concluding volume of Janet Brownes biography opens. The much-praised first volume  Voyaging  carried Darwins story through his youth and scientific apprenticeship  the adventurous Beagle voyage  his marriage and the birth of his children  the genesis and development of his ideas. Now  beginning with the extraordinary events that finally forced the Origin of Species into print  we come to the years of fame and controversy.  For Charles Darwin  the intellectual upheaval touched off by his book had deep personal as well as public consequences. Always an intensely private man  he suddenly found himself and his ideas being discussedand often attackedin circles far beyond those of his familiar scientific community. Demonized by some  defended by others (including such brilliant supporters as Thomas Henry Huxley and Joseph Hooker)  he soon emerged as one of the leading thinkers of the Victorian era  a man whose theories played a major role in shaping the modern world. Yet  in spite of the enormous new pressures  he clung firmly  sometimes painfully  to the quiet things that had always meant the most to himhis family  his research  his network of correspondents  his peaceful life at Down House.  In her account of this second half of Darwins life  Janet Browne does dramatic justice to all aspects of the Darwinian revolution  from a fascinating examination of the Victorian publishing scene to a survey of the often furious debates between scientists and churchmen over evolutionary theory. At the same time  she presents a wonderfully sympathetic and authoritative picture of Darwin himself right through the heart of the Darwinian revolution  busily sending and receiving letters  pursuing research on subjects that fascinated him (climbing plants  earthworms  pigeonsand  of course  the nature of evolution)  writing books  and contending with his mysterious  intractable ill health. Thanks to Brownes unparalleled command of the scientific and scholarly sources  we ultimately see Darwin more clearly than we ever have before  a man confirmed in greatness but endearingly human.  Reviewing Voyaging  Geoffrey Moorhouse observed that if Brownes second volume is as comprehensively lucid as her first  there will be no need for anyone to write another word on Darwin. The Power of Place triumphantly justifies that praise.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45647270969397,"sku":"ByrdShop_0679429328","price":22.52,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780679429326.jpg?v=1781691343","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/charles-darwinthe-power-of-place-9780679429326","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}