Charles Darwin

“It’s a fun read about a young man on an expedition finding things out. It’s as much about the journey as it is about evolution, but you can hear the idea gestating, the beginnings of the most amazing idea ever…this is about the process of science, about him using his brain, the creative imaginative bit of science where he’s wondering why these fossils are here on top of the Andes. He sees Valparaiso destroyed by an earthquake erupting and is horrified by the brutality of nature – it’s as much a travelogue as anything else, but you can see how his mind is beginning to work. I wish I’d read it when I was younger – I’d have gone off a similar journey if I had…It’s full of anecdotes and humour. I mean, he’s aware that he is an academic, and there are long passages about shale beds and geological formations that a travel writer might have left out, but he describes the meals he ate and the people he meets. You really get a feeling of his enthusiasm. It rips along.” Read more...

The best books on Being Inspired by Science

Tom Clarke, Journalist

“An educated person is someone who knows at least a little bit about the major disciplines in human endeavour. And in biology, this is what you need to know – not only historically but also contemporaneously, because Darwin was right, and still is right, about so many things.” Read more...

The best books on Evolution

Jerry Coyne, Biologist

“I like The Descent of Man better than The Origin of Species because Darwin is prepared to be much bolder in The Descent of Man. In The Origin of Species he was still a little bit timid. He presents the idea of how species develop, and that is what we now refer to as evolution. But he didn’t apply it to humans. He really didn’t dare to say that we humans developed from other apes just as horses, for example, developed from early proto-horses. He didn’t use the term ‘evolution’ anywhere in the original editions of The Origin of Species. He does use it in later editions, but that’s around the time when The Descent of Man is published.” Read more...

The Best Nineteenth-Century Philosophy Books

Peter Singer, Philosopher

“The sense of continuity between people and other animals underlies everything that Darwin ever wrote. He doesn’t address it explicitly in On the Origin of Species but it’s the focus of the The Descent of Man. The Expressions of Emotion in Man and Animals addresses the set of human characteristics that are most likely to be fixed on by people who wish to emphasise the distinction between people and other animals…Darwin’s books sold very well…The Expressions of Emotion in Man and Animals is shorter and has pictures of people and animals expressing different emotional states.” Read more...

The best books on The History of Human Interaction With Animals

Harriet Ritvo, Historian

“It’s a wonderful Victorian title. Of course his most famous book is On The Origin of Species and that is actually rather hard work because he was desperately trying to persuade people of his thesis and he collected an absolute mountain of data and you had to wade through this stuff. But he was actually rather a good writer if he was able to let his hair down. His account of the Voyage of the Beagle is lovely. It is a sort of travel book full of derring-do and wonderful adventures. But I love this book about earthworms, which wasn’t published until 1896, because it just shows what a lovely naturalist he was. Let me read you one paragraph from page 26 on the observations and habits of worms: ‘Worms do not posses any sense of hearing. They took not the least notice of the shrill of a metal whistle which was repeatedly sounded near them. Nor did they hear the deepest and loudest tones of a bassoon. They were indifferent to shouts if care was taken that the breath did not strike them. When placed on a table near a piano which was played as loudly as possible they remained perfectly quiet.’ But he goes on to say that if you put them on the piano they jumped like mad because they could feel the vibrations.” Read more...

The best books on Popular Science

Adam Hart-Davis, Broadcaster