Book review: ‘The Ascent of John Tyndall’ by Roland Jackson

A long-overdue biography of the Victorian scientist, mountaineer, and public intellectual.

Book reviews: ‘Charles Darwin: Voyaging’ • ‘Charles Darwin: The Power of Place’

A magnificent two-volume biography.

Part 2 of an entertaining two-part biography of Charles Darwin.

Part 1 of an entertaining two-part biography of Charles Darwin.

Reflections in natural history.

More Reflections in Natural History.

Reflections in Natural History.

A very short introduction.

How predictable is evolution?

15,000 years of urban life and death.

Re. Joyce
How the Friends of Charles Darwin motto was pre-empted by James Joyce.
24 not out… So, what next?
Today (2nd March 2018) marks the Friends of Charles Darwin's 24th birthday… Time, perhaps for something of a relaunch!
The end of the Darwin tenner
The Charles Darwin £10 note will cease to be legal tender at 23:59 GMT on 1st March 2018. Time to reflect… and to announce our new newsletter.
The ghost of John Tyndall solves a mystery (probably)
How a Twitter conversation with the ghost of John Tyndall (friend of Charles Darwin), helped identify the likely source of a morbid inscription in one of his books.
The Darwin bicentennial oak, 9 years on
Nine years ago today, I planted the Darwin Bicentennial Oak in my garden. See how it‘s doing…

14-May-1856: Darwin starts writing his ‘big species book’
On 14 May 1856, Charles Darwin recorded in his journal that, on the advice of his friend Charles Lyell, after almost 20 years exploring the subject, he had finally begun writing a ‘sketch’ of his ideas on species.
If humans evolved from monkeys, how come there are still monkeys?
This is a question frequently posed by creationists—and quite often by perfectly rational people…
13-Jan-1833: The day HMS Beagle nearly sank
Charles Darwin's closest brush with death during the Beagle voyage came on Sunday 13th January 1833, near that most infamous of nautical perils, Cape Horn.
The great Darwin fossil hunt
In which a friend beyond measure arranges a behind-the-scenes visit to the Natural History Museum to see fossils collected by Charles Darwin during the Beagle voyage.
Spandrel sight-seeing
In which I visit the spandrels of San Marco in Venice.