Darwin's Garden: Down House and the Origin of Species

by Michael Boulter

On the Origin of Species was built upon the young Charles Darwin’s observations of the natural world when he circumnavigated the globe as a "gentleman naturalist" on the HMS Beagle. But work on his masterpiece did not begin until five years after his return when he moved into Down House with his family in Kent, England, where he would live for the rest of his life. For almost twenty years, the garden at Down House was both an inspiration and a laboratory to Darwin. In the orchard, he conducted experiments on pollination. He built a dovecote where he could breed new strains of pigeons that helped him understand the intricacies of generation. On his daily walk along the sandbank, he observed how plants competed for survival. In solitude, he also struggled with the ideas of evolution that had haunted him since his voyage. Bringing Darwin’s garden to the present day, Boulter unfolds a shining portrait of the formation of one of England’s greatest thinkers and his relationship with the place he loved, and shows how his experiments—conducted more than 150 years ago—are still revealing new proofs as we continue to search for the origins of life.

Genres: History, Science, Gardening, Nonfiction, Nature, Evolution, Biology

280 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2009

Reviews

[E.K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Looked forward to reading but disappointed by haphazard style and poor editing. In Part 2 the skate through subsequent scientific developments in evolutionary theory is fast and links back to the tranquility of Darwin's garden I find are often forced and reflect the authors 'feelings'. The authors pessimism, especially in his conclusions are depressing. 'Nature is always ahead of science' - well, 'duh'.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a personal, human, social perspective on Darwin, his life and his development of ideas. A pleasant gentle read, with lots of examples of what he was studying in his garden, and with many vignettes showing warmth, humour, family and friends.

[Chris S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A speedy run through of CD's life - focussing on his evoluntion work - centering this quest in his home and seemingly idyllic garden at Down. Interesting commentry too on recent developments in evolutionary science. A joy.

[Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

A multifaceted , fastidiously researched history, marred in places by woolly thinking, poor expression, and some unfortunate errors that might (or in the worst case, might not) have been typographical. For example, on page 155 of this edition, the author states: "More simply , a gene is a protein coding of DNA with no clear beginning or end and with a major role for RNA." Any biologist/geneticist knows that protein is encoded BY the gene, not vice versa. RNA is transcribed from genes, or in some cases regulates the expression of genes. The author has used ambigious, unclear or plainly inaccurate language. Genes DO have beginnings and ends, although genes can have multiple alternative beginnings and ends, with alternative transcription initiation sites or alternative splicing sites, or alternative stop codons. A second example; on page 175 the author states: "Now there is a new breed of vertebrate scientist who put the DNA into a machine called a PCR-analyser and get a selection of amino acid sequences". Aaaaaargh ! PCR machines generate copies of DNA/nucleotide sequences, NOT amino-acid sequences. The amino acid sequences are deduced from the DNA sequences. There are other places where the arguments are difficult to follow, especially in the last chapter. Apart from those issues, it was an informative history, bringing together the stories of several of Darwin's contemporaries, and the story of the huge documentary work by Darwin prior to the eventual publication of "the Origin of Species" that was finally spurred by the work of Wallace, and Darwin’s fruitless search for the gemmules or pangenes; a search that might have been more fruitful had he, or his scientific colleagues, been aware of the work of Gregor Mendel.

[Ruth · Rating 2 out of 5]

With an acute interest in Darwin, his work and natural history together with very fond memories of my visit to Down House walking in the great man's footsteps - I was looking forward to reading this book about the experiments Darwin carried out in his garden. Unfortunately, there isn't a lot on that topic in this book. I came away with a feeling that it contained great artistic licence at times and unsubstantiated conjectures. Although moments provided for delightful imagery - Darwin breaking a glass cucumber frame with an errant boomerang - I wasn't confident this actually happened. Similarly the 'eureka' hedge parsley incident, whereby the reaction of Darwin's couchman is described in great detail. (Bibliography section titled, 'Influences and Sources' assisting the author to 'gather his facts and feelings' over the years).

[Bodil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was reading this book when I was able to visit Down House and this added to my enjoyment of the visit. The book is in two parts, the first dealing with Darwin’s life and his family at Down House. The second part tries to follow evolutionary science from Darwin’s time up to the present. I enjoyed the first part, but to my surprise, found the second part hard going and a bit confusing, despite (or maybe because) being av evolutionary biologist myself!
It is interesting to read about all the experiments Darwin did in his garden, but sadly we don’t learn many details about them. Perhaps much of my disappointment in the book, stems from the author not being a biologist.
The bibliography is very unsatisfactory as it doesn’t include some of the articles that are discussed in the text!

[Dr Susan Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ver good introduction to Darwin's rather isolated world after the Voyage of the Beagle - family man and garden were his milieu as he thought through his ideas on evolution and arrived at natural selection. I've been to Down House a few times and always love learning more about him and Emma and their Victorian world

[Heather Lawrentz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a physical anthropologist AND a gardener, and yet I trudged through this book. Don’t recommend.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, but the title is kind of misleading. Expected it to have more about daily life in the garden.

[Tweedledum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Boulter succeeds in bringing Darwin back to life as we see him at home and debating with friends. I bought this book at Down House and found the book helped me to follow Darwin on his journey. However the book in much more than a simple memoir helping to put Darwin's ideas into their historical context and giving the non specialist some insight into current research.
We also are rewarded with some charming glimpses into other members of the Darwin family.

Fussy people Darwin's are
Who's the fussiest by far?
Several aunts are far from calm,
But Aunt Etty takes the palm. P. 213

"Her tea -strainer face-mask was filled with wadding soaked in eucalyptus oil and was held on by elastic bands. .....once, unhappy with the view of the garden from her bed, she sent for the gardener to come up to her room. She told him to get into bed and work out which branch of the tree in front of the window needed cutting back so she could see the garden. " p. 213

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quiet book that I enjoyed. Intimate glimpses of Darwin's work and family life. The book focuses on the importance of Darwin's garden in the development of evolutionary theory and in peace and joy it provided him, allowing him to continue his work despite ill health and professional stress. The text meanders, but if you aren't expecting a thrill a minute and enjoy padding an appreciation for one of the most concientious of men, who also happens to be one of the most ground breaking scientists ever, read away.