Darwin: Portrait of a Genius
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.19 (785 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0147509777 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 176 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-01-02 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Paul Johnson is the author of many bestselling books, including Socrates: A Man for Our Times;Jesus: A Biography from a Believer; and Churchill. . He lives in London
The charges asserted, Johnson raises them at particular points in his narrative of Darwin’s life. Characteristically pithy and incisive, the ever-popular Johnson offers a Darwin who will be much in demand. --Gilbert Taylor . Darwin’s habit of delaying publishing to conduct overly meticulous research, for example, nearly defeated his claim to fame. This was Darwin’s missed opportunity, which delayed the genetics revolution and opened conceptual space for the pernicious doctrines of social Darwinism––so runs Johnson’s argument. Johnson writes that Darwin was a procrastinator, poor at math, and ignorant of foreign languages. By Darwin’s subsequent publications Johnson is but mildly impressed, partly because some do not hold up well (The Descent of Man) and partly because Darwin pursued tangents at the expense of theorizing a mechanism of heredity, as Gregor Mendel did. From Booklist Always provocative, historian Joh
Don said Worth the read. A well written account. It is always good to read when the writer does such a good job.. "The Paul Johnson Monkey Trial" according to john purcell. I only knew Paul Johnson from his insightful commentaries in Forbes where the 85 year old historian shows us that today's leaders don't always meet the standards of their predecessors. I did not know what to expect in a biography but the elder statesman gets it absolutely right here with Darwin. No dry recitation of facts and dates but insightful analysis of Darwin's times, the full impact of his work in both social and scientific circles, and some glaring oversights and omissions by the great man. I think this is the most riveting account of a 19th century scientist that one could find.Darwin may have been the world's first full. Joseph M. Hennessey said Entertaining, at least admits his biases, packed passion not for Darwin sycopahants. Paul Johnson's crie du coeur agaist the nearly blind adulation of Charles cultus rankles them, even those who admit they have not read the brief addition to the Johnson extensive corpus. Yes, Darwin was brilliant, but not infallible, weak in many branches of what is now just called 'science.' Good counter-balance to the worshipers of their guru, he was the first to admit that he was an unoriginal amateur in mathematics and an unacknowleding their of the more profound work of his contemporaries and predecessors.Unfortunately, Johnson does use a lot of 'post hoc ergo propter hoc' logic, that Darwin had caused all the atheist excess
Johnson argues that by applying his theory of natural selection to humans, Darwin provided a platform for the burgeoning eugenics movement. While Johnson praises Darwin’s extraordinary skills as a natural scientist and his monumental achievements, he does not sidestep Darwin’s tragic failures as an anthropologist. A “riveting” (The Wall Street Journal) biography of one of the most influential and controversial scientists in Western historyAcclaimed historian and biographer Paul Johnson turns his keen eye on Charles Darwin, the towering figure whose work continues to spur scientific debate.With his publication of On the Origin of Species, Darwin forever changed our concept of the world. Lay readers and academics alike will enjoy this concise and unflinching exploration of Charles Darwin, a genius whose discoveries—even the flawed ones—add significant dimension to our understanding of his mind, the era in which he lived, and his everlasting impact on our world.