Charles Darwin and Evolution

Science Discoveries

by Steve Parker

An illustrated biography of Darwin features paintings, photographs, and prints and discusses Darwin's shy boyhood in Shrewsbury, England, his voyages to South America, and his revolutionary evolutionary theories.

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Steve Parker is a British science writer of children's and adult's books. He has written more than 300 titles and contributed to or edited another 150.

Born in Warrington, Lancashire, in 1952, Parker attended Strodes College, Egham and gained a BSc First Class Honours in Zoology at the University of Wales, Bangor. He worked as an exhibition scientist at the Natural History Museum, and as editor and managing editor at Dorling Kindersley Publishers, and commissioning editor at medical periodical GP, before becoming a freelance writer in the late 1980s. He is a Senior Scientific Fellow of the Zoological Society of London. Parker is based in Suffolk with his family.

Parker's writing career began with 10 early titles in Dorling Kindersley's multi-award-winning Eyewitness series, from the late 1980s to the late 1990s. He has since worked for more than a dozen children's book publishers and been shortlisted for, among others, the Rhone-Poulenc Science Book Prize, Times Educational Information Book of the Year, and Blue Peter Book Award.

Reviews

[Zach Naegele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book tells about the life of Charles Darwin. Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England on February 12, 1809. Darwin began college in medicine, but gave up and switched to religion. After graduating he decided to explore his interests in rocks, fossils, animals and plants. Darwin got a job as a naturalist with the Royal Navy on a round-the-world survey expedition. Darwin’s job on the expedition was to collect specimens of their stops and take notes on the area. Darwin was amazed by all that he saw, and soon began to take note of the way things changed as they traveled. He also noticed how different people were used to their climate and surroundings. What really caught Darwin’s attention were the strange animals on the Galapagos Islands. He took specific note of the different finches and how they had adapted to what they ate. Although a strong believer in the Bible, he felt he had substantial evidence to show that animals had evolved. He wrote a book on evolution that shook the beliefs of the world, and he struggled for people to accept his theories. Ever since Darwin people have struggled over the argument of Creation v. Evolution.

[Shelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice additional bit of curriculum for anyone studying Darwin and his journey on the HMS Beagle. The layout is done well with easy to follow and memorable facts about the scientists and his work.