Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution

“In this intimate portrait…the great-great-grandson of the scientist, Keynes uses published documents as well as family papers and artifacts to show how Darwin’s thinking on evolution was influenced by his deep attachment to his wife and children. In particular, his anguish over his 10-year-old daughter Annie’s death sharpened his conviction that the operation of natural laws had nothing to do with divine intervention or morality. Keynes shows that much of Darwin’s intellectual struggle in writing On the Origin of Species and The Descent of Man arose from his efforts to understand the role of suffering and death in the natural order of the world…a moving tribute to a thinker who, despite intimate acquaintance with the pain inflicted by the ‘war of nature’ could still marvel that, from this ruthless struggle, ‘endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been, and are being, evolved.’”—Publishers Weekly

“Though there have been innumerable biographies of Darwin, there cannot have been any warmer portrayals of his humanity and his desire to discover meaning in human existence.”—The Irish Times

“Above all this is a love story: the love of Charles and Emma…and the love of both for their children.” —The Times (London)

“Fascinating…This is a wonderful portrait of a Victorian family in all its aspects…so extraordinary and so revealing.”—Birmingham Post

  “It is a rare biography that reveals the key emotional moment in its subject’s personal and intellectual life so clearly as Randal Keynes does for Charles Darwin in Darwin, His Daughter & Human Evolution. What makes this book so moving and illuminating is the way Keynes tracks his subject’s emotional development and, more generally, shows how much his scientific thinking was influenced by his wife Emma and their 10 children. besides its contribution to the intellectual history of Darwinism, Darwin, His Daughter & Human Evolution is a delightful portrayal of mid-19th century family life.” —Financial Times (London)

“[An] intriguing family portrait. Darwin’s desperate search for signs of his dying daughter’s recovery make excrutiatingly poignant reading. Publication for this reason alone would be justified, if only to remind us of our debt to 20th century medicine. But there is much more to this story than the outlining of the vicissitudes of Victorian family life.”—Manchester Guardian Weekly

“Shows with impact how little science knew of t