Title: Science in Darwin's day
Review: Early 19th Century Britain was ripe for Darwin's "On the Origin of Species..." Geology was coming into it's own. Ancient fossils were being uncovered by the carload. Eager and well trained botanists and biologists were out in the field collecting and sending back to England treasure troves of specimens. Add to all that a community of dedicated scientists eager for new ideas, as well as a scholarly atmosphere where the concept of evolution was already in the air. Even the religious orientation of the time helped to spur Dariwn along. Ruse does a masterful job of describing this milieu and showing how it affected Darwin's endeavors over three decades. While the bibiliography is all that one could ask for, the inadequate index and the lack of a glossary will probably hamper anyone not familiar with that age and with Darwin himself. Otherwise, this is an excellent overview of a remarkable age and an even more remarkable person.
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