True Story Book Club: The Reluctant Mr. Darwin by David Quammen
Our True Story Book Club meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 11 AM in the Community Room of the Library! We read and discuss many different subjects and issues from lots of countries around the world. It just has to be a true story is all! Hard copies of each title are available for checkout on the Book Club Shelf on the first floor of the library.
This month we are reading: The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries) by David Quammen (304 pp)
Evolution, during the early nineteenth century, was an idea in the air. Other thinkers had suggested it, but no one had proposed a cogent explanation for how evolution occurs. Then, 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 basis of Darwin's twenty-one-year delay constitute a fascinating, tangled tale that elucidates the character of a cautious naturalist who initiated an intellectual revolution.
