Darwin and the Barnacle

(Paperback, Main)

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Description

It is 1846. Darwin is poised to publish "The Origin of the Species" and blow the scientific world apart. But one small creature makes him hesitate. First, he decides to solve the riddle of a tiny barnacle the picked up on teh shores of southern Chile, the last of his Beagle specimens. The investigation takes eight years and tests his theory to the limit. "Darwin and the Barnacle" is the fascinating story of how genius sometimes proceeds through indirection - and how one small item of curiosity contributed to history's most spectacular scientific breakthrough.

Reviews

A spellbinding story, intricate and beautifully told.--James Moore, co-author of "Darwin"
Perfect reading for your next beach holiday; you'll never look at a barnacle, or at Darwin, the same way again.--James A. Secord, author of "Victorian Sensation"
Stott is skillful with many of the thematic connections here and her narration is exciting, gripping and addictively readable.--Scarlett Thomas
This is that rare book that sweeps you on from the first few pages...a brilliant performance.--Roy Herbert
"Now, at last, Rebecca Stott...has had the courage and tenacity to make Darwin's barnacles--and their importance--accessible to the rest of us."

Author Bio

Rebecca Stott is a writer, academic and radio broadcaster. She teaches in the English Literature Department of Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge and is an affiliated scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. She has no aquarium and enjoys seafood. She lives in Cambridge and no longer dreams of barnacles.