Origin Story: The Trials of Charles Darwin

Medical historian Markel (The Secret of Life) presents a gripping account of the period between 1858 and 1860 when Darwin wrote and published On the Origin of Species. On June 18, 1858, Darwin received a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace in which the “obscure journeyman naturalist” naively outlined for his competitor a theory of evolution that was “a near-perfect summary” of the same ideas “that Darwin had pondered for more than two decades,” lighting a fire under Darwin to publish his conclusions soon or risk getting scooped. Recounting the difficulties Darwin faced during this period, Markel notes that grief over the death of his infant son from scarlet fever in June 1858 cast a pall over the writing process and exacerbated the “flatulence and stomach pain” that dogged Darwin for much of his adult life. The most revelatory material examines Origin’s heated reception, including a tense climactic account of an 1860 meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science during which zoologist Thomas Huxley’s fierce defense of Darwin against the skeptical Samuel Wilberforce, Bishop of Oxford, proved pivotal in shifting “moral authority from the church to the intellectual power of science.” The result is a detailed and dramatic close-up of a consequential period in scientific history. Photos. (June)