There were times when my brain hurt and I admit to making a few visits to the end notes and glossary. But while learned, J F Derry's book was not beyond me and I love what it had to say.
I love that the earth- or maybe heaven-shattering big ideas were wrought by painstaking observation and record keeping. Poor Gregor Mendel whose understanding of genetics via pea cultivation (28000 plants) went unnoticed till 20 years after his death.
In many ways the book is a paean not only to Darwin and his contemporaries, but to a way of looking at the world.
I love the natural justice that sees Edinburgh, built as it is upon the evidence of volcanic and glacial activity, as the place where Darwin is exposed to the idea of deep time: the vital scale that allows for natural selection (and directly opposed to the 6000 year old earth that results from adding up all the biblical begattings.)
The book is full of science and the individuals who did and do it today. There is much to enjoy and for me there was much to learn.....transmutationism, random drift, gradualism and its arch nemesis punctuated equilibrium. (Such fantastic terms)
Before signing off and in the spirit of fair play Derry allows the Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents to have their say. Manners insisted that I stay around and listen but I'd already been won over by those who endeavoured and are still endeavouring towards a better understanding of how things really function in our amazing natural world.
Many thanks J F Derry. I shall revisit.
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