A very problematic biography of Charles Darwin I received many years ago for review has long left me nervous about taking up any biography of him published since; however Dr. J. David Archibald’s new “Critical Lives: Charles Darwin” is well supported by the high integrity and scholastic history of its author, its publishers, and those who have already made early assessments of the book.
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.
In recent years, the efforts to recognize and develop the work of women in the sciences have brought to the fore a number of important scientists who a mere fifty years ago may have been left largely unknown, whose work may have been unrecognized or ascribed to another, or whose talents may have been discouraged – or even inhibited – from being developed. And with this, a number of other women whose accomplishments in the past have begun to receive their justly deserved and long overdue recognition.
Published by The Dovecote Press, the small Dorset-based independent publisher from which originally emerged the award-winning Little Toller Books as an imprint in 2009, Tom Sharpe’s “The Fossil Woman; a Life of Mary Anning” presents a “fresh and often surprising look at the achievements of a woman who is finally gaining the recognition she merits.”