Doing any serious research into, or writing about, the life and work of Charles Darwin can be an overwhelming endeavor. After all, between all the books he wrote, all the discoveries he made, all the people with whom he corresponded, all the species named in his honor, and of course, all the kerfuffles that arose as a result of his work, just locating exactly what you might be seeking can be a seemingly daunting task to say the least. If only someone would publish a “one-stop” reference, some manner of small encyclopedia, a companion guide, if you will, that gathered information about all these things into a single place where they could be quickly and effectively located, reviewed, and referenced as needed.
Fortunately for all scholars of Darwin, as well as the much larger circle of those amateurs interested in one or another aspects of his life and works, such a reference is now available from World Scientific: Darwin; A Companion by Paul van Helvert and John van Wyhe. Within its densely packed 465 pages, this new Companion provides most all the information for which any Darwin scholar or enthusiast could wish – including a collection of hundreds of images and caricatures of him, his home, etc. – neatly presented in a single, alphabetically arranged volume.
As well as keeping it readily-at-hand near my writing desk, I look forward to spending many an hour simply perusing the contents of this creature trove of “Darwiniana” and expect to very often find myself making such declarations as “Good heavens!” and “I didn’t know that!” – both trusted personal indications of a very worthwhile book indeed.
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