Autobiographies

The Autobiographies of Charles Darwin (1809-82) are fascinating to anyone who enjoys looking at the world from many different angles. These memoirs—which give a first-hand, personal look into the mind of one of the world's greatest minds—begin with vivid recollections from Darwin's early years and his growing scientific curiosity. His loyal wife Emma and his intellectual father, both stern and kind, are interspersed with evocative portraits of some of the great members of the Victorian scientific world he knew. On the whole, these recollections are both honest and instructive. They portray a man who was separated by his contentious convictions and whose lofty achievements were made possible by a life-long zeal for scientific discoveries—find out more in The Autobiographies of Charles Darwin .