Darwin''s Evolving Identity - Adventure, Ambition, and the Sin of Speculation

Charles Darwin developed a theory of the structure and distribution of coral reefs during his voyage on the Beagle. By exploring how the young Darwin learned to write theories, Alistair Sponsel enriches our understanding of the "tormented theorist" as well as the range of private and public activities that constituted theory-making in nineteenth-century natural history. The existing scholarship on Darwin's development as a scientist focuses on Charles Lyell's indirect influence, as the author of the foundational book Principles of Geology, which Darwin read at sea. After Darwin's return, however, Sponsel shows Lyell took a more active role in Darwin's scholarly life than previously thought. Darwin's eventual unease with the extent of "speculation" in the early work he produced under Lyell's guidance, including on coral reefs, was a factor in his reticence to make his species theory public.

Product details

• Authors: Alistair Sponsel, Alistair William Sponsel
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.01.2018
• EAN: 9780226523118
• ISBN: 978-0-226-52311-8
• No. of pages: 336
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Natural sciences (general); Evolution, SCIENCE / History, SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Evolution, SCIENCE / Earth Sciences / Geology, SCIENCE / Philosophy & Social Aspects, History of Science, Evolution / Evolutionary biology