Richard Owen

(Paperback)

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Brilliant, hard-working, immensely productive and influential, the naturalist Richard Owen was a great promoter of science, and played a large role in shaping London's Natural History Museum. An often difficult and arrogant individual, he was accused of plagiarism and bullying, and is the only man whom Charles Darwin claimed to hate. Although strongly opposed to Darwin and Thomas Huxley's theories of evolution through natural selection, there is evidence that a few of Owen's ideas were not so very distant from theirs. This biography gives an account of Owen's life and work, providing possible psychological and social reasons for some of his more controversial characteristics, and his sometimes rather strained relations with his scientific contemporaries.

Reviews

'Armstrongs biography accomplishes its admirable purpose describing in considerable detail Owens many accomplishments and contrasting them with his disagreeable nature.' Geoffrey Martin, Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography, Southern Connecticut State University; 'This book is a fascinating account of the life of Sir Richard Owen. Patrick Armstrongs balanced commentary of an intelligent but controversial individual makes for compulsive reading.' Vivian Louis Forbes, Adjunct Associate Professor of Geography, The University of Western Australia; 'In this lively and sure-footed biography, distinguished historian of science Patrick Armstrong brilliantly brings a lifetime of scholarship to the task of explicating why Victorian-era palaeontologist and Charles Darwin collaborator and detractor Richard Owen remains worthy of our attention. A fascinating study!' Tom Chaffin, author of Odyssey: Charles Darwin, the Beagle, and the Voyage that Changed the World.

Author Bio

Patrick H. Armstrong taught Geography and Ecology at the University of Western Australia for 28 years. He has written widely on the life and work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, including Alfred Russel Wallace (Reaktion, 2019).