Darwin's Mentor
Darwin's Mentor
E. A. Stow, University of Cambridge
Patrick Bateson, King's College, Cambridge
$160.00
USDJohn Stevens Henslow is known for his formative influence on Charles Darwin, who described their meeting as the one circumstance 'which influenced my career more than any other'. As Professor of Botany at Cambridge University, Henslow was Darwin's teacher and eventual lifelong friend, but what of the man himself? In this biography, much previously unpublished material has been carefully sifted and selected to produce a rounded picture of a remarkable and unusually likeable academic. The time in 1829–31 when Darwin 'walked with Henslow' in and around Cambridge was followed directly by Darwin's voyage around the world. The gradually changing relationship between teacher and pupil over the course of time is revealed through their correspondence, illuminating a remarkable friendship which persisted, in spite of Darwin's eventual atheism and Henslow's never-failing liberal Christian belief, to the end of Henslow's life.
- Was the first new biography of Henslow for over 25 years
- Draws on much previously unpublished material
- Presents a rounded picture of the man best known for his formative influence on Charles Darwin
Reviews & endorsements
"This fascinating book contains many beautiful illustrations and should appeal to naturalists and historians of science." Choice
"The book is handsomely produced...It touches on all aspects of Henslow's busy life and undoubtedly will be his definative biography." Journal of the History of Biology
"An enjoyable read, of interest both to academics and anyone wanting to know more about Darwin and his influences."
Southeastern Naturalist
Product details
October 2001Hardback
9780521591461
368 pages
255 × 182 × 34 mm
1.114kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Foreword P. Bateson
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- List of figures
- List of colour plates
- Part I. Origins:
- 1. Family background: growing up in Kent and London
- Part II. Cambridge:
- 2. The young Henslow at Cambridge
- 3. Henslow: men who influenced him at Cambridge
- 4. Harriet
- 5. The young Professor
- 6. Educating Charles Darwin and others
- 7. The middle years: politics, policing and publication
- 8. The Botanic Garden: old and new
- 9. A liberal churchman
- Part III. Hitcham:
- 10. Early years as Rector of Hitcham
- 11. The Rector
- 12. The later years
- Epilogue
- Appendix 1. Genealogical tables
- Appendix 2. Chronology
- Appendix 3. Dramatis personae
- Appendix 4. Eponymous taxa
- Appendix 5. Local botanical records
- Endnotes
- Bibliography
- Index.
