Under The Microscope

DARWIN: A LIFE IN SCIENCE, by Michael White and John Gribbin; Simon & Schuster/Macmillan 1996; 322 pages; $29.95

This is a good, serviceable account of Darwin, his life and the impact of his ideas on the scientific world and beyond. It's competently written, which you would expect with writers such as White and Gribbin, although it does get a bit repetitive in places when the chronological approach is supplemented by quick peeks into the future. It is good to see Darwin placed in context as a human character rather than, as he is sometimes painted, as the emotionless atheist that promulgated the evil adage "survival of the fittest" to the detriment of humanity.

The authors point out that Charles Darwin's most important work On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection is the only publication to initiate a scientific revolution that still remains an enjoyable read for non-scientists. Their work nicely supplements the original and, if it encourages anyone to read Origin or appreciate the evolutionary revolution that Darwin began, has done its work well.

Vicki Hyde, NZSM