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The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms with Observations on Their Habits
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344 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1881
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About the author
Charles Darwin
2,333 books3,378 followersCharles Robert Darwin of Britain revolutionized the study of biology with his theory, based on natural selection; his most famous works include
On the Origin of Species
(1859) and
The Descent of Man
(1871).
Chiefly Asa Gray of America advocated his theories.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
Charles Robert Darwin, an eminent English collector and geologist, proposed and provided scientific evidence of common ancestors for all life over time through the process that he called. The scientific community and the public in his lifetime accepted the facts that occur and then in the 1930s widely came to see the primary explanation of the process that now forms modernity. In modified form, the foundational scientific discovery of Darwin provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in history and medicine at Edinburgh University and then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist, whose observations and supported uniformitarian ideas of Charles Lyell, and publication of his journal made him as a popular author. Darwin collected wildlife and fossils on the voyage, but their geographical distribution puzzled him, who investigated the transmutation and conceived idea in 1838. He discussed his ideas but needed time for extensive research despite priority of geology. He wrote in 1858, when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay, which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication.
His book of 1859 commonly established the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human sexuality in Selection in Relation to Sex , and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals followed. A series of books published his research on plants, and he finally examined effect of earthworms on soil.
A state funeral recognized Darwin in recognition of preeminence and only four other non-royal personages of the United Kingdom of the 19th century; people buried his body in Westminster abbey, close to those of John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
Her fathered Francis Darwin, astronomer George Darwin, and politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.
(Arabic: تشارلز داروين)
Chiefly Asa Gray of America advocated his theories.
Works of Jacques Martin Barzun include Darwin, Marx, Wagner (1941).
Charles Robert Darwin, an eminent English collector and geologist, proposed and provided scientific evidence of common ancestors for all life over time through the process that he called. The scientific community and the public in his lifetime accepted the facts that occur and then in the 1930s widely came to see the primary explanation of the process that now forms modernity. In modified form, the foundational scientific discovery of Darwin provides a unifying logical explanation for the diversity of life.
Darwin developed his interest in history and medicine at Edinburgh University and then theology at Cambridge. His five-year voyage on the Beagle established him as a geologist, whose observations and supported uniformitarian ideas of Charles Lyell, and publication of his journal made him as a popular author. Darwin collected wildlife and fossils on the voyage, but their geographical distribution puzzled him, who investigated the transmutation and conceived idea in 1838. He discussed his ideas but needed time for extensive research despite priority of geology. He wrote in 1858, when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay, which described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication.
His book of 1859 commonly established the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. He examined human sexuality in Selection in Relation to Sex , and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals followed. A series of books published his research on plants, and he finally examined effect of earthworms on soil.
A state funeral recognized Darwin in recognition of preeminence and only four other non-royal personages of the United Kingdom of the 19th century; people buried his body in Westminster abbey, close to those of John Herschel and Isaac Newton.
Her fathered Francis Darwin, astronomer George Darwin, and politician, economist and eugenicist Leonard Darwin.
(Arabic: تشارلز داروين)
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 14, 2017
Charles Darwin describing an earthworm taking a crap:
This is pure Darwin: exquisite observation of the apparently trivial. Although his great theory of evolution by means of Natural Selection is central to our understanding of life's grandeur, Darwin had something of a soft-spot for the lowliest of creatures. He spent eight years studying barnacles; investigated how bees form honeycombs; and even took time to observe ants when he was supposed to be convalescing at his favourite hydropathy establishment.
But Darwin knew it was important to sweat the small stuff. As he is quick to point out in the introduction to his final book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms:
Although, at face value, his earthworms book might seem charmingly eccentric, bordering on worm-obsessed at times, Darwin had a half-hidden agenda. Responding to a Mr Fish, who, writing in the Gardeners' Chronicle, had dismissed Darwin's earlier hypothesising about the contribution made by earthworms to the formation of the topmost layer of soil—the ‘vegetable mould’—Darwin writes:
Darwin's theory of evolution, like his great friend and inspiration Charles Lyell's uniformitarian theorising about geological change, relied on the accumulation of a large number of small changes taking place over a very long time. Many critics argued (as some religiously motivated critics still do) that the small changes we can still observe taking place today (the movement of sand particles down a river, say, or the slight physical variations in an animal's offspring) do not have sufficient power to bring about far greater changes that we cannot observe directly over geological/evolutionary timescales (the formation of the Grand Canyon, say, or the evolution of new species). Darwin's earthworm book demonstrates small change writ large. If the humble earthworm, burrowing unnoticed beneath out feet every day, can, over mere tens or hundreds of years, alter our physical landscape, and bury beyond sight our ruins, who can deny what cumulative, small changes are capable of achieving over much longer timescales?
Small change writ large was a recurring theme in Darwin's work. In this, he was heavily influenced by Lyell's Principles of Geology, which he first read during the Beagle voyage, later writing to a friend:
In one of his first scientific papers, presented at the Geological Society in 1837, less than a year after his return from the Beagle voyage, Darwin correctly explained how the various forms of coral reef form slowly over time as the nearby land subsides. Later that same year, again at the Geological Society, he presented a paper ‘On the formation of mould’, in which he credited his maternal uncle and future father-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood II, with having drawn his attention to how various substances which had been spread over Wedgwood's fields years earlier were now to be found buried beneath several inches of soil—a phenomenon that Wedgwood attributed to the action of earthworms. It was an observation that triggered Darwin's long-standing interest in worms; an interest which was to culminate, over four decades later, in his final, hugely entertaining book.
As we have already seen, part of the joy of Darwin's earthworms book are his meticulous descriptions. Here he is, for example, describing a worm burrowing:
and here he is describing worms sucking on ‘broad flat objects’:
Darwin wasn't just a wonderful observer; he also loved to carry out what he self-deprecatingly referred to as ‘fool's experiments’. His earthworms book describes some characteristically surreal examples. Who else but Darwin would get his son to play the bassoon to pots of earthworms to establish whether they could hear? And who else would then, for good measure, get his wife, who had received tuition from none other than Frédéric Chopin in her youth, to play the piano to them? Then there were the tiny triangles of paper, representing leaves, that Darwin presented to his worms to assess their intelligence. The fact that they more often grabbed the triangles by their most sharply pointed corners, thereby making it easier to drag them down into their burrows, is an indication, Darwin claims, that they are more intelligent than we generally give them credit for.
Darwin dedicates a considerable proportion of this book to estimating the amount of soil shifted by worms, be it in levelling fields, eroding landscapes, or burying ancient monuments. The former archaeologist in me shuddered to read how he had arranged for a hole to be dug alongside one of the fallen ‘Druidical’ stones at Stonehenge to assess how deeply they had sunk into the soil, having been undermined by worms. He and his sons paid similar visits to recently excavated Roman villas and other ancient sites.
Darwin rounds off his last book with a typical Darwinian flourish, reminiscent of his justly famous closing ‘entangled bank’ paragraph from On the Origin of Species, in which he returns to his half-hidden agenda of small change writ large:
Darwin's The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms is a wonderfully entertaining book, and a worthy final volume from our greatest naturalist. Highly recommended.
***
Free electronic versions of Darwin's earthworms book are widely available on the internet, for example via Project Gutenberg or on the Darwin Online website.
References:
Darwin, C.R. (1837). On certain areas of elevation and subsidence in the Pacific and Indian oceans, as deduced from the study of coral formations. [Read 31 May] Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 2: 552-554. Available at Darwin Online
Darwin, C.R. (1838). On the Formation of Mould. [Read 1 November, 1837] Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 2: 574-576. Available at Darwin Online
Darwin, C.R. to Horner, Leonard (29 Aug [1844]). Darwin Correspondence Database,
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-771 accessed on Fri Oct 16 2015.
Darwin, C.R. to Hooker, J.D. (6 May [1858]). Darwin Correspondence Database,
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2269 accessed on Fri Oct 16 2015.
Darwin, C.R. (1881). The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits. London: John Murray. Available at Darwin Online
Healey, E. (2002). Emma Darwin: the inspirational wife of a genius. London: Review Books.
A worm after swallowing earth, whether for making its burrow or for food, soon comes to the surface to empty its body. The ejected earth is thoroughly mingled with the intestinal secretions, and is thus rendered viscid. After being dried it sets hard. I have watched worms during the act of ejection, and when the earth was in a very liquid state it was ejected in little spurts, and when not so liquid by a slow peristaltic movement. It is not cast indifferently on any side, but with some care, first on one and then on another side; the tail being used almost like a trowel. As soon as a little heap is formed, the worm apparently avoids, for the sake of safety, protruding its tail; and the earthy matter is forced up through the previously deposited soft mass. The mouth of the same burrow is used for this purpose for a considerable time.
This is pure Darwin: exquisite observation of the apparently trivial. Although his great theory of evolution by means of Natural Selection is central to our understanding of life's grandeur, Darwin had something of a soft-spot for the lowliest of creatures. He spent eight years studying barnacles; investigated how bees form honeycombs; and even took time to observe ants when he was supposed to be convalescing at his favourite hydropathy establishment.
But Darwin knew it was important to sweat the small stuff. As he is quick to point out in the introduction to his final book, The Formation of Vegetable Mould Through the Action of Worms:
the maxim “de minimis lex non curat,” [the law does not care about trifles] does not apply to science
Although, at face value, his earthworms book might seem charmingly eccentric, bordering on worm-obsessed at times, Darwin had a half-hidden agenda. Responding to a Mr Fish, who, writing in the Gardeners' Chronicle, had dismissed Darwin's earlier hypothesising about the contribution made by earthworms to the formation of the topmost layer of soil—the ‘vegetable mould’—Darwin writes:
Here we have an instance of that inability to sum up the effects of a continually recurrent cause, which has often retarded the progress of science, as formerly in the case of geology, and more recently in that of the principle of evolution.
Darwin's theory of evolution, like his great friend and inspiration Charles Lyell's uniformitarian theorising about geological change, relied on the accumulation of a large number of small changes taking place over a very long time. Many critics argued (as some religiously motivated critics still do) that the small changes we can still observe taking place today (the movement of sand particles down a river, say, or the slight physical variations in an animal's offspring) do not have sufficient power to bring about far greater changes that we cannot observe directly over geological/evolutionary timescales (the formation of the Grand Canyon, say, or the evolution of new species). Darwin's earthworm book demonstrates small change writ large. If the humble earthworm, burrowing unnoticed beneath out feet every day, can, over mere tens or hundreds of years, alter our physical landscape, and bury beyond sight our ruins, who can deny what cumulative, small changes are capable of achieving over much longer timescales?
Small change writ large was a recurring theme in Darwin's work. In this, he was heavily influenced by Lyell's Principles of Geology, which he first read during the Beagle voyage, later writing to a friend:
I have always thought that the great merit of the Principles, was that it altered the whole tone of one's mind & therefore that when seeing a thing never seen by Lyell, one yet saw it partially through his eyes
In one of his first scientific papers, presented at the Geological Society in 1837, less than a year after his return from the Beagle voyage, Darwin correctly explained how the various forms of coral reef form slowly over time as the nearby land subsides. Later that same year, again at the Geological Society, he presented a paper ‘On the formation of mould’, in which he credited his maternal uncle and future father-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood II, with having drawn his attention to how various substances which had been spread over Wedgwood's fields years earlier were now to be found buried beneath several inches of soil—a phenomenon that Wedgwood attributed to the action of earthworms. It was an observation that triggered Darwin's long-standing interest in worms; an interest which was to culminate, over four decades later, in his final, hugely entertaining book.
As we have already seen, part of the joy of Darwin's earthworms book are his meticulous descriptions. Here he is, for example, describing a worm burrowing:
the worm inserts the stretched out and attenuated anterior extremity of its body into any little crevice, or hole; and then, as Perrier remarks, the pharynx is pushed forwards into this part, which consequently swells and pushes away the earth on all sides. The anterior extremity thus serves as a wedge.
and here he is describing worms sucking on ‘broad flat objects’:
The pointed anterior extremity of the body, after being brought into contact with an object of this kind, was drawn within the adjoining rings, so that it appeared truncated and became as thick as the rest of the body. This part could then be seen to swell a little; and this, I believe, is due to the pharynx being pushed a little forwards. Then by a slight withdrawal of the pharynx or by its expansion, a vacuum was produced beneath the truncated slimy end of the body whilst in contact with the object; and by this means the two adhered firmly together.
Darwin wasn't just a wonderful observer; he also loved to carry out what he self-deprecatingly referred to as ‘fool's experiments’. His earthworms book describes some characteristically surreal examples. Who else but Darwin would get his son to play the bassoon to pots of earthworms to establish whether they could hear? And who else would then, for good measure, get his wife, who had received tuition from none other than Frédéric Chopin in her youth, to play the piano to them? Then there were the tiny triangles of paper, representing leaves, that Darwin presented to his worms to assess their intelligence. The fact that they more often grabbed the triangles by their most sharply pointed corners, thereby making it easier to drag them down into their burrows, is an indication, Darwin claims, that they are more intelligent than we generally give them credit for.
Darwin dedicates a considerable proportion of this book to estimating the amount of soil shifted by worms, be it in levelling fields, eroding landscapes, or burying ancient monuments. The former archaeologist in me shuddered to read how he had arranged for a hole to be dug alongside one of the fallen ‘Druidical’ stones at Stonehenge to assess how deeply they had sunk into the soil, having been undermined by worms. He and his sons paid similar visits to recently excavated Roman villas and other ancient sites.
Darwin rounds off his last book with a typical Darwinian flourish, reminiscent of his justly famous closing ‘entangled bank’ paragraph from On the Origin of Species, in which he returns to his half-hidden agenda of small change writ large:
When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that its smoothness, on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due to all the inequalities having been slowly levelled by worms. It is a marvellous reflection that the whole of the superficial mould over any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years through the bodies of worms. The plough is one of the most ancient and most valuable of man's inventions; but long before he existed the land was in fact regularly ploughed, and still continues to be thus ploughed by earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are many other animals which have played so important a part in the history of the world, as have these lowly organised creatures. Some other animals, however, still more lowly organised, namely corals, have done far more conspicuous work in having constructed innumerable reefs and islands in the great oceans; but these are almost confined to the tropical zones.
Darwin's The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms is a wonderfully entertaining book, and a worthy final volume from our greatest naturalist. Highly recommended.
***
Free electronic versions of Darwin's earthworms book are widely available on the internet, for example via Project Gutenberg or on the Darwin Online website.
References:
Darwin, C.R. (1837). On certain areas of elevation and subsidence in the Pacific and Indian oceans, as deduced from the study of coral formations. [Read 31 May] Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 2: 552-554. Available at Darwin Online
Darwin, C.R. (1838). On the Formation of Mould. [Read 1 November, 1837] Proceedings of the Geological Society of London 2: 574-576. Available at Darwin Online
Darwin, C.R. to Horner, Leonard (29 Aug [1844]). Darwin Correspondence Database,
https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-771 accessed on Fri Oct 16 2015.
Darwin, C.R. to Hooker, J.D. (6 May [1858]). Darwin Correspondence Database,
http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/entry-2269 accessed on Fri Oct 16 2015.
Darwin, C.R. (1881). The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, with Observations on their Habits. London: John Murray. Available at Darwin Online
Healey, E. (2002). Emma Darwin: the inspirational wife of a genius. London: Review Books.
June 2, 2021
Solucanlar hakkında yazılan en önemli hem deneysel hem de akademik bir kitap. Solucanlar dünyanın en önemli canlılarından birisi. Alışkanlıkları, Toprak ile ilişkisi, jeoloji-arkeoloji ile ilişkisi gibi konuları detaylıca anlatıyor Darwin. Biyoloji merakı, solucan merakı olanların okuması tavsiye edilir.
October 14, 2016
This is one of Darwin's more obscure works, and as such I think it gives a special measure of the man's calibre as a scientist and observer. On the one hand, it is all of a piece with his Lyellian gradualism to show what lowly earthworms can achieve across millennia of small-scale vomiting. On the other hand, it shows Darwin's thoroughness and mastery of method in even the lowliest of details, drawing on accounts of giant earthworms from foreign explorers, observations of leaf consumption in pots of earth, measurements of deposits over tombstones, the folk knowledge of farmers and the observations of archaeologists.
Darwin establishes how worms contribute to the creation of humus-rich soil, how they use gizzard-stones to grind vegetable matter, how they can survive months of inundation, how they produce terracing on pasture and how they manage to move megatonnes of soil downwards and out to sea from river basins. He establishes, fittingly given his most famous work, how small causes add up to geological effects. He shows how rocks descend into fields, how burial mounds are reshaped, how earth piles against the largest boulders and how traces of buried walls remain discernible in fields, an important consideration for archaeologists. How many of us would have presumed that worms are so interesting?
Another small masterpiece from one of science's largest figures, and eminently readable and engaging into the bargain.
Darwin establishes how worms contribute to the creation of humus-rich soil, how they use gizzard-stones to grind vegetable matter, how they can survive months of inundation, how they produce terracing on pasture and how they manage to move megatonnes of soil downwards and out to sea from river basins. He establishes, fittingly given his most famous work, how small causes add up to geological effects. He shows how rocks descend into fields, how burial mounds are reshaped, how earth piles against the largest boulders and how traces of buried walls remain discernible in fields, an important consideration for archaeologists. How many of us would have presumed that worms are so interesting?
Another small masterpiece from one of science's largest figures, and eminently readable and engaging into the bargain.
October 15, 2019
Darwin’s little book on earthworms was the last of his scientific works, published in the year before his death in 1882 and more than 20 years after the great work, On the Origin of Species. The Formation of Vegetable Mould has an autumnal feeling; much of it is based on observations and experiments by Darwin and his sons William and Horace in the gardens and fields surrounding their home, Down House in Kent. Darwin’s interest in worms and their contribution to the geology of landforms long preceded the formulation of his evolutionary theory. He first published on worms in 1837 and concluded that the entirety of the vegetable humus that constitutes the surface soil of England has passed many times and continued to pass through their intestinal canals. Millions upon millions of tons each year, in his estimate. In this last work Darwin links evolutionary theory and geology in his response to Mr DT Fish who disputed his account of the magnitude of the effects of bioturbation of the English land surface by worms. Fish thought worms too small and weak to be capable of the ‘stupendous’ work attributed to them. Darwin responded:
‘Here we have an instance of that inability to sum up the effects of a continually recurrent cause, which has so often retarded the progress of science, as formerly in the case of geology, and more recently in that of the principle of evolution’.
Though Darwin was mainly concerned with effects of bioturbation of the soil by worms his observation of their habits led him wonder ‘how far they acted consciously, and how much mental power they displayed.” In his second chapter he discusses the question of their intelligence at some length, concluding that their behaviour in manoeuvring leaves to shield the mouths of their burrows showed a degree of adaptability in their behaviour suggestive of a capacity to learn by experience. He tested them by restricting their choice of leaves to unfamiliar varieties and small triangles of paper and observing the attempts to draw the unfamiliar leaves and paper into their burrows. He concluded that, deaf and blind as they were, the worms acquired a tactile notion of the shape of these objects and learned by experience the ways in which they might be manipulated. His observations led him to surmise that they might ‘deserve to be called intelligent, for they then act in nearly the same manner as would a man in similar circumstances’.
There is much else besides, in praise of worms. Darwin devotes another chapter to the ways in which the remnants of Roman buildings, in particular their tessellated floors, have been preserved under the steady accumulation of vegetable mould from worm casts.
Darwin must have enjoyed writing this last little book about worms. There is a sense of quiet exuberance in his prose. And moments of delight for the reader, as in the sinuous Latinity of his discussion of their gizzards: ‘In the same manner as gallinaceous and struthious birds swallow stones to aid in the trituration of their foods, so it appears to be with terricolous worms. The gizzards of thirty eight of our common worms were opened…’
My edition of The Formation of Vegetable Mould, which I rescued from the discard pile of a charity bookshop, is a curiosity in its own right. It was published in California in 1976 by the Bookworm Publishing Company, an imprint apparently now defunct with a catalogue that included such titles as ‘Harnessing the Earthworm’, ‘Let an Earthworm be your Garbageman’ and ’Raising the African Night Crawler’. ( )
‘Here we have an instance of that inability to sum up the effects of a continually recurrent cause, which has so often retarded the progress of science, as formerly in the case of geology, and more recently in that of the principle of evolution’.
Though Darwin was mainly concerned with effects of bioturbation of the soil by worms his observation of their habits led him wonder ‘how far they acted consciously, and how much mental power they displayed.” In his second chapter he discusses the question of their intelligence at some length, concluding that their behaviour in manoeuvring leaves to shield the mouths of their burrows showed a degree of adaptability in their behaviour suggestive of a capacity to learn by experience. He tested them by restricting their choice of leaves to unfamiliar varieties and small triangles of paper and observing the attempts to draw the unfamiliar leaves and paper into their burrows. He concluded that, deaf and blind as they were, the worms acquired a tactile notion of the shape of these objects and learned by experience the ways in which they might be manipulated. His observations led him to surmise that they might ‘deserve to be called intelligent, for they then act in nearly the same manner as would a man in similar circumstances’.
There is much else besides, in praise of worms. Darwin devotes another chapter to the ways in which the remnants of Roman buildings, in particular their tessellated floors, have been preserved under the steady accumulation of vegetable mould from worm casts.
Darwin must have enjoyed writing this last little book about worms. There is a sense of quiet exuberance in his prose. And moments of delight for the reader, as in the sinuous Latinity of his discussion of their gizzards: ‘In the same manner as gallinaceous and struthious birds swallow stones to aid in the trituration of their foods, so it appears to be with terricolous worms. The gizzards of thirty eight of our common worms were opened…’
My edition of The Formation of Vegetable Mould, which I rescued from the discard pile of a charity bookshop, is a curiosity in its own right. It was published in California in 1976 by the Bookworm Publishing Company, an imprint apparently now defunct with a catalogue that included such titles as ‘Harnessing the Earthworm’, ‘Let an Earthworm be your Garbageman’ and ’Raising the African Night Crawler’. ( )
May 8, 2021
Worms have always fascinated me, but I haven’t read anything on them. I was just a casual obsessive, and did my best to make their lives great in my yard. That said, I really loved this.
November 25, 2017
I learnt about this work from R. Dawkins and was quite courious what Darwin had to tell us about those ubiquitous creatures: earth-worms. Darwin was an expert on long-term phenomena: he discovered evolution and was fascinated by tectonics. This is another phenomenon: worms forming mould, changing rocks into a fertile fields... in span of many years and centuries.
This work is not an easy reading as it includes a lots of (sometimes boring) facts about worms, their habits, their influence on shaping grounds all over the world, but it nicely shows his chiefly scientific approach to the problem. He wants to convince readers that worms play crucial role in formation of mould which is in turn crucial for our crops and for many animals and plants and (for me at least) he succeeds as he provides a plenty of observations, statistics and arguments in favour of his hypotheses (later theories and then broadly accepted facts).
I see the book as a window to his (and in general, a scientific) approach to observe, describe and explain natural phenomena around us. In this it is very similar to On the origin of species.
This work is not an easy reading as it includes a lots of (sometimes boring) facts about worms, their habits, their influence on shaping grounds all over the world, but it nicely shows his chiefly scientific approach to the problem. He wants to convince readers that worms play crucial role in formation of mould which is in turn crucial for our crops and for many animals and plants and (for me at least) he succeeds as he provides a plenty of observations, statistics and arguments in favour of his hypotheses (later theories and then broadly accepted facts).
I see the book as a window to his (and in general, a scientific) approach to observe, describe and explain natural phenomena around us. In this it is very similar to On the origin of species.
September 15, 2023
I tried to power through the end but it was just so boring. Lol. Scientific bit reading chapters on worm gizzards and how much dirt gets excavated by worms was dry. Good science, not the best read for pleasure. First couple chapters were entertaining because they focused on worm behavior and anatomy. Started to lose me at how worms pulls leaves and various objects into their burrows.
For me reading this was Like college… skip all the process and data and just go straight to tha conclusion lmaoo
For me reading this was Like college… skip all the process and data and just go straight to tha conclusion lmaoo
February 6, 2022
Who would have thought Darwin would be an easy read?
I read it on a whim as a pick out of the free audio books in the guttenberg library.
Im not one to read science books so I thought I wouldn't make it far, but it turned out to be a delight to listen to as I gardened. It was told in a easy to follow way as well.
I read it on a whim as a pick out of the free audio books in the guttenberg library.
Im not one to read science books so I thought I wouldn't make it far, but it turned out to be a delight to listen to as I gardened. It was told in a easy to follow way as well.
October 21, 2019
The patience of this man was incredible! I'm not a scientist at all, but I am fascinated by Darwin's collaborations, experiments, & ceaseless measuring.
May 7, 2021
Lastige woordenschat maar heel leuk om te lezen, zeer aandoenlijke experimenten.
September 20, 2023
great read
Darwin’s words, as usual, is stimulating and totally enjoyable. The information is dense but very clear and totally understandable. A book you can enjoy.
Darwin’s words, as usual, is stimulating and totally enjoyable. The information is dense but very clear and totally understandable. A book you can enjoy.
Read
September 15, 2025I have reproduced some of Darwin’s experiments in a mason jar and my worms seem to leave significantly more castings than what he writes.
April 8, 2015
I like Darwin (viz my interest in Stephen Jay Gould), and I found this, the first of his books I've read, enjoyable in spite of what I confess as the tediousness of scientific precision - tiresome to read, but entirely admirable in conscientious thoroughness. Also a tribute to the loyalty and dedication of Darwin's sons who are recorded as doing a lot of fieldwork and measurement for him, and to the extended Wedgwood and Darwin families whose houses clearly often accommodated the old feller when he was doing his researches.
And, of course, it's a testament to the magnificence of a creature so often maligned by our choice of it as the metaphor to describe someone lowly and worthless.
And, of course, it's a testament to the magnificence of a creature so often maligned by our choice of it as the metaphor to describe someone lowly and worthless.
April 14, 2016
Wow. This is a perfect book for those who have moved beyond Mary Applehof's "Worms Eat My Trash." Also, a great book for the avid amateur vermiculturist. In fact, if you are really into worms, parts of this book will make you laugh aloud and say,"Ha! Yes! I Have seen them do that!"
If you read it in public, people give you funny looks. But I suppose it's better than reading Mein Kampf in public.
If you read it in public, people give you funny looks. But I suppose it's better than reading Mein Kampf in public.
May 4, 2016
Wow. This is a perfect book for those who have moved beyond Mary Applehof's "Worms Eat My Garbage." Also, a great book for the avid amateur vermiculturist. In fact, if you are really into worms, parts of this book will make you laugh aloud and say,"Ha! Yes! I Have seen them do that!"
If you read it in public, people give you funny looks. But I suppose it's better than reading Mein Kampf in public.
If you read it in public, people give you funny looks. But I suppose it's better than reading Mein Kampf in public.
December 1, 2015
Fascinating and, someway, poetic.
For what I know, it was Darwin's last work. Of course it is a technical essay, stuffed with calculations and descriptions of experiments, but it transmits the wonder Darwin felt in front of nature, the same way On The Origin of Species does.
Actually, it was one of the first scientific works to prove the fundamental role of earthworms in nature.
For what I know, it was Darwin's last work. Of course it is a technical essay, stuffed with calculations and descriptions of experiments, but it transmits the wonder Darwin felt in front of nature, the same way On The Origin of Species does.
Actually, it was one of the first scientific works to prove the fundamental role of earthworms in nature.
March 13, 2012
Really enjoyed it! I have looked a bit to find other writers who have embraced the humble earth worm but no luck yet... If you are interested in starting a worm bin this will give you more of the science of worms rather than the care of worms. I found the book fascinating.
January 2, 2013
Interesting to read. Sometimes it reads like a detective when he tries to find out certain facts. It makes me wonder how true his findings have turned out to be, if any further examination has been done that is.
January 1, 2016
While this was a very interesting read, it was very specialist in its subject matter and used a lot of specific terminology. My copy lacked diagrams which would have made the subject easier to understand.
March 23, 2014
Lots of little experiments discussed in text mostly (rather than tables), but the conclusions drawn were pretty fascinating. Also, it's just neat that Darwin chose to focus some of his last efforts on worms.
April 4, 2008
Engaging and full of interesting anecdotes - Darwin was an startlingly patient and thoughtful observer of nature. Highly recommended for any gardeners out there.
May 5, 2008
One of the most amazing books I have. I picked up a first edition for 20 bucks in the Chicago Airport.
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April 4, 2009My copy doesn't have the fancy cover. I particularly liked the image of Darwin shouting at worms to test whether they could hear him.
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