The Reluctant Mr. Darwin

Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution

By: David Quammen

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 7 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

In September 1838, a young Englishman named Charles Darwin hit upon the idea that "natural selection" among competing individuals would lead to wondrous adaptations and species diversity. Twenty-one years passed between that epiphany and publication of On the Origin of Species. The human drama and scientific controversy of that time constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that illuminates this cautious naturalist who sparked an intellectual revolution.

Drawing from Darwin's secret notebooks and personal letters, David Quammen has sketched a vivid life portrait of the man whose work remains controversial today.

©2006 David Quammen (P)2006 BBC Audiobooks America

Critic reviews

"Grover Gardner is a first-rate reader who seems genuinely to enjoy recounting the foibles of Darwin's life. An excellent general audience title." (Library Journal)

"Grover Gardner’s reading pulses with the excitement of Quammen’s quest. As the author sifts through Darwin’s developing insights and personality quirks...Gardner is perfectly alert to the author’s subtle irony and humor..." (Audiofile)

"It's easy to hear why PW named Grover Gardner Narrator of the Year in '05. He uses inflection, stress, rhythm and his rich vocal range to create an easy and often amusing conversational style." (Publishers Weekly)

Short but Excellent!

Wonderful for such a short audiobook and brilliantly narrated. Filled with relevant personal information and evaluation of historical significance. Does not shy away from criticism for an appropriately revered but complex man.

Narration was excellently paced and engaging. I found the author to add scientific background, social and cultural significance, and humor in a perfect mix! Highly recommended

Good book

This is a good book that focuses on a specific part of Darwin's life. If you are looking for a complete biography, this isn't the book for you.But the synopsis describes the work well, and it succeeds admirably.

think

loved it . a chance to get to know Mr. Darwin. now to see the genome discoveries.

worth the time

love or revile the ideas, they are worth revisiting. this expose of the man and his times is more than welcome and quite inspiring. thanks to Mr Quammen, but greater still is credit to Mr Darwin

chapter 23 and 24 are the same text

Audible chapter 23 is repeated as chapter 24, but great book otherwise. I highly recommend it.

Must Read

I love this book.

Too often in school we learn about scientific principles and scientists without any historic context. It seems like they are geniuses who can not be touched and once those theories come into being, they are put on a pedestal and can not be modified. If something is in a text book it must be true!

This book put Charles Darwin and Natural Selection in context. The book makes Charles Darwin feels all too human and explains why Natural Selection is so incendiary.

I recommend this book for anyone who is interested in science or history.

David Quammen is a great writer and he tells an amazing story.

Loved it.

Loved the narration and the eloquence the way it was written for a natural flow and easy grasp. Might check more of his works. Impressed by author.

Mr Darwin revisited

Originally I was disappointed that the Voyage of the Beagle wouldn’t be covered but the years after Beagle were filled with experimentations, correspondences and thinking. These along with seemingly unrelated experiments and personal happiness and tragedies occurring were the fertilizer allowing Darwin to digest all that data and synthesize it into the “discovery”.
His life was dictated by his pursuits and his passions not academic laurels
Great read!

Darwin portrait.

This is a well-written and entertaining book. It would be a fine introduction to Darwin and the Origin of Species. Grover Gardner is the best reader of non-fiction I have heard.

A very pleasant surprise

I picked this one up during one of Audible's $5 sales. I didn't know much about it but, as a science enthusiast and educator, I wanted to know more about Darwin and gave it a try. I finished it with a deeper reverence for Darwin's genius and an understanding of who he was as a human and scholar.

I enjoyed the writer's style and appreciate the amount of research he did to help the reader understand what Darwin's contemporaries believed. It's rather a mystery to us now that Darwin conceived of natural selection and let decades pass without publishing (see Bryson's "Short History of Nearly Everything"). This book explains why Darwin delayed and helped me better understand natural selection and, as I said, Darwin's genius to conceive of it at a time when other "biologists" attributed everything to God's handiwork. Give it a try and I think you'll enjoy!