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The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1809-1882
Charles Darwin's Autobiography was first published in 1887, five years after his death. It was a bowdlerized edition: Darwin's family, attempting to protect his posthumous reputation, had deleted all the passages they considered too personal or controversial. The present complete edition did not appear until 1959, one hundred years after the publication of The Origin of Sp...more
paper, 224 pages
Published
September 17th 1993
by W.W. Norton & Company
(first published 1887)
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Darwin, Charles. THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES DARWIN 1809-1882. (1958; this ed. 2008). This is a relatively short autobiography that Darwin wrote for the benefit of his children, so that they would have some idea of who he was and what his antecedents were when he was gone from this earth. He spends most of his time talking about his years growing up and going to school. He also hits heavily on his turn from formal religion to atheism as he grew older. It is interesting how during his trai...more
I'm a bit fascinated by Darwin, though most of the interest in this is that it is what he himself chose to record for his descendants. It doesn't cover the Beagle voyage, as those journals were published elsewhere, so it's a rather general account of his growing up and his life upon return from his voyage. It gives a good sense of the man though, and the appendices are truly brilliant. Not so much the letters surrounding the ridiculously blown-up spat between himself and Samuel Butler, but the v...more
After reading Origin of Species I decided that I adore Charles Darwin, and after reading his autobiography, I adore him more. I doubt there have been many others so insightful and honest, so capable of seeing clearly what is in front of them, unclouded by outside opinion or preconception. He was apparently renowned for being humble and charming, and he certainly comes across that way here.
That said, this is not riveting read. It was published posthumously, edited by his son and later his grandda...more
That said, this is not riveting read. It was published posthumously, edited by his son and later his grandda...more
Brilliant.
Darwin treats himself as his own specimen. I think it is one of the most honest autobiographies I have ever read. Darwin is unapologetic in his passions and unafraid to recount his mistakes. Whether a fan of his research or not, I think the work gives an inside look into a man who was not afraid to pursue his passions, his intellect and the ramifications of both despite physical sickness, social push-back and years of what he himself describes as 'hard labor'.
I thi...more
Darwin treats himself as his own specimen. I think it is one of the most honest autobiographies I have ever read. Darwin is unapologetic in his passions and unafraid to recount his mistakes. Whether a fan of his research or not, I think the work gives an inside look into a man who was not afraid to pursue his passions, his intellect and the ramifications of both despite physical sickness, social push-back and years of what he himself describes as 'hard labor'.
I thi...more
I haven't COMPLETELY finished it, but I have finished the part of the book which is actually written by Charles Darwin and it was excellent. I think if anyone is endeavoring to read any of Darwins' other, more heavy works they should first read at least the autobiography section of this book. I find it really helps to get to know Darwin to be able to read his writing with better understanding.
And anyone interested in going into the field of naturalism or biology/botany/zoology I would GREAT...more
And anyone interested in going into the field of naturalism or biology/botany/zoology I would GREAT...more
About 125 pp long, w/ another 125 pp worth of additional material (do we really need 40 pp on the Darwin/Butler controversy?). It is the 250th anniversary of his birth and the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Origin of the Species. Time better spent reading Voyage of the Beagle or the Appleman/Norton Darwin (which has little Darwin in it, but over 200 yrs worth of essays about him and evolution). 30 yrs ago while working on an MA in English I became somewhat of an expert on Victori...more
This was a great little book to aid my quest to learn a bit about Charles Darwin.
Darwin's actual autobiography is pretty short and makes up only half of the volume. Not a riveting autobiography, but his rambles were pleasant enough, and there were a couple amusing anecdotes. I enjoyed it.
The remaining half is mostly devoted to letters and articles about some controversy between Darwin and Butler which I had absolutely no interest in, and the rest are a couple of Darwin's pers...more
Darwin's actual autobiography is pretty short and makes up only half of the volume. Not a riveting autobiography, but his rambles were pleasant enough, and there were a couple amusing anecdotes. I enjoyed it.
The remaining half is mostly devoted to letters and articles about some controversy between Darwin and Butler which I had absolutely no interest in, and the rest are a couple of Darwin's pers...more
Autobiografía redactada sin ninguna pretensión literaria, tal y como el autor aclara en sus primeras líneas. Se trata de un conjunto de recuerdos, más o menos organizados, que Darwin escribe para el recuerdo por parte de sus hijos. de esta manera, el autor de "El origen de las Especies" nos traza un recorrido de su vida, deteniéndose más en sus años mozos que, por ejemplo, en la más atractiva aventura del Beagle. Consigue describirnos un personaje de lo más gris, tímido, introvertido...more
This very short volume is not so compelling as a thrilling read, but I actually did it enjoy it, as it helped to contextualize Darwin's life and career. What we are introduced to is a very ordinary person--the child of a wealthy doctor, a mediocre student, and a spoiled young man more invested in riding to the hunt than in pursuing a meaningful profession. Then, however, he discovers a passion...collecting beetles, which leads to a lifelong obsession with entomology, zoology, botany, and geology...more
Synopsis: Charles Darwin wrote his autobiography throughout the later years of his life. He intended it to be solely for his children, but his son first published the autobiography in 1887 (with most of the personal details omitted - which have now since been included). Darwin writes about his early life, school years and published works, spending very little on information about his family or other personal topics.
My Review: Very few books take me this long to read (4 weeks or so). ...more
My Review: Very few books take me this long to read (4 weeks or so). ...more
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quite boring. this was written by mr darwin as a family history intended only for his children. when his son decided to publish it he took out all the interesting stuff. no mention is made of his family, daily life, personal beliefs habits. most of his writing are described and summarized--nothing "new".
i did find it fascinating that for each work he described it as "costing" him x amount of years/weeks/days. an interesting way to characterize your contribu...more
i did find it fascinating that for each work he described it as "costing" him x amount of years/weeks/days. an interesting way to characterize your contribu...more
If you want to read Darwin's biography, this is the version to read. It has all of the original text. Darwin's immediate family had removed many parts of the text before publishing the autobiography. Some of the redacted material included Darwin's thoughts about religion. The family had also removed many of Darwin's honest, though negative, thoughts about prominent people in his life.
A different book of his life experiences may be better. In this book, Darwin cites interaction many associates and records some of his studies with a very brief summary of each. He lightly touches on his personal life and I think there is more interesting story there for the telling.
Darwin's personal life interests me significantly, but I do not count this work of essential reading. Certainly I like to read and know these things, but only for more accute understanding of the context in which Darwin developed his deepest beliefs.
I was hoping for more insights into his life and thoughts, but this autobiography had more to do about his writing and publications.
I did enjoy learning that he loved shooting and would practice his shooting techniques rather than do his homework.
I did enjoy learning that he loved shooting and would practice his shooting techniques rather than do his homework.
So brief, but so fascinating. It's great to read of Darwin's life in his own words. At times sad, and at others, quite funny! Highly recommended, if only for Darwin's description of how mad he was about beetles.
Beautifully moving - humble, honest, funny (sometimes unintentionally) - his thoughts on the (non)existence of God as well as his deep commitment to science are beautiful, sincere, searching...
What's to say? I'm trying to ease into reading Origin of Species, so I'm finding out a bit about the man. He's quite witty, and the autobio is mercifully short.
As honest a look at a man's life one can expect. And an interesting look at the development of genius.
not much needs to be said about this book other than, if you are interested in the life of Darwin, you should read this book.
Rod
added it
It was interesting to read of Darwin in the first person and how he recounted his life.
Craig J.
added it
The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882 by Charles Darwin (1993)
Beautiful little book written by the most unpretentious genius ever.
Much better than I thought it would be.
Esperanza Izquierdo
marked it as half-read
(En español)
Erik Graff
rated it
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review of another edition
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review of another edition
Recommends it for:
everyone
Recommended to Erik by:
Bill Ellos
Shelves:
biography
One of the best ways to disarm critics of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection would be to get them to read his posthumous autobiography, originally edited by his son, then rereleased in an unexpurgated version by his granddaughter. Whatever one might believe about the bible, or punctuated equilibrium for that matter, one cannot read this memoir without coming to like this man. This was, after all, a fellow who dug an enormous hole in order to calculate earthworm distributions.
One of my very favorite autobiographies. Not only is it a fascinating study of a fascinating man, but it opens larger questions about what is success, what brings about fame, and how much control a discover has over the direction his discoveries take the world.
Reading this reminds me of reading Rachel Carson's work: not only is the subject fascinating but the book is extremely well-written and almost lyrical in many instances.
While the research of Charles Darwin has aided the scientific field greatly, his character did not seem to impress me much as a hero.
Actually I'm listening to an audio version of this, I quite appreciate Darwin's work so this was quite interesting for me.
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