DARWIN'S ARMADA: FOUR VOYAGES AND THE BATTLE FOR THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION. by McCalman, Iain - 2009

New York: W.W. Norton, 2009. 423 pp, 9 1/2" H. B&w and colour plates, b&w maps, illustrations. "In 1831 Charles Darwin set sail on the HMS Beagle for what would become a five-year voyage to South America, New Zealand, and Australia. His exploits and discoveries led to the groundbreaking theory of evolution by natural selection and the subsequent publication of his book 'On the Origin of Species', utterly changing his life - and with it the entire course of modern science. Iain McCalman revisits the rise of Darwinian thought through the lens of Darwin's most vocal supporters and colleagues, who were each crucial to the advancement of this theory of evolution: Joseph Hooker, a botanist and Darwin's closest ally; Thomas Huxley, Darwin's most effective defender in the fight against the clergy; and Alfred Wallace, the field naturalist who arrived independently at the theory of evolution by natural selection, spurring Darwin to publish his book. The book traces their diverse social origins and educations - from the wealthy gentry to the working-class poor, from the spires of Cambridge to the socialist debating halls of London and Wales - and charts their separate, dangerous, demanding, and intellectually exciting travels in wooden ships to the remote southern lands and oceans of South America, Australia, New Zealand, New Guinea, Southeast Asia, and Antarctica. McCalman has for the first time recast the ideas of the Darwinian revolution as a genuinely collective enterprise, revealing the untold story of Darwin's greatest supporters, who during his life campaigned passionately for the theory of evolution in the face of great resistance and then lived on to extend and advance the scope of his work." Tiny dent at bottom edge of front board. Dust jacket has a tiny dent at the bottom edge of the front panel, minor rubbing.. First American Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good+/Very Good+.