• by Sean B. Carroll
• 2009 / 352 pages – paperback
• rating – 6 (mixed)

This was a really dry book for me,  not a subject I have much interest in nor knowledge about.   I suppose some of the chapters,  some of the main subjects, Darwin,  Wallace , Bates,  Walcott, Leaky, Pauling had pretty interesting lives – but the book just fell flat for me.  I don’t even know what those geological formations Carroll just mentions in passing are!   I suppose if you’re interested in the development of today’s theories of evolution this book might be fascinating.

Starting with Alexander von Humboldt,  a highly influential scientist of the early 19th century,  Carroll outlines the history of the ideas and discoveries of the explorers and scientists who worked on the “search for the origins of species,”  as the book is subtitled.… READ MORE >>>