Darwin’s Books

It is not possible to do proper justice to Renée Bergland’s “Natural Magic: Emily Dickinson, Charles Darwin, and the Dawn of Modern Science” (2024) in just one essay. So, this time I offer a third perspective (see March 24 & 31 issues). There are at least that many to be had from this fine non-fiction book. “When Darwin was young, ‘scientist’ had not been coined and ‘science’ was defined in many contradictory ways. By the end of his life, he had come to personify the ideal scientist. The definition of ‘science’ had hardened and clarified around Darwin’s naturalists methods. But for Darwin, science itself was as full of change and possibility as it had ever been. It was perfectly fitting that he had become an icon of uncertainty.” Darwin (1809-82) wrote numerous books in his more than…