Synopses & Reviews
In this first-ever examination of Charles Darwinand#8217;s sketches, drawings, and illustrations, Julia Voss presents the history of evolutionary theory told in pictures. Darwin had a life-long interest in pictorial representations of nature, sketching out his evolutionary theory and related ideas for over forty years. Voss details the pictorial history of Darwinand#8217;s theory of evolution, starting with his notebook sketches of 1837 and ending with the illustrations in
The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1872).and#160;These images were profoundly significant for Darwinand#8217;s long-term argument for evolutionary theory; each characterizes a different aspect of his relationship with the visual information and constitutes what can be called an and#8220;iconand#8221; of evolution. Voss shows how Darwin and#8220;thought with his eyesand#8221; and how his pictorial representations and the development and popularization of the theory of evolution were vitally interconnected.
Voss explores four of Darwinand#8217;s images in depth, and weaves about them a story on the development and presentation of Darwinand#8217;s theory, in which she also addresses the history of Victorian illustration, the role of images in science, the technologies of production, and the relationship between specimen, words, and images.
Review
and#8220;Each chapter richly details not only Darwinand#8217;s preoccupation with visual depictions, but also his deep involvement in the networks of zoologists, collaborators, draftsmen, artists, and others involved in the production of the visual images he seeks and struggles with.andnbsp;As such, the work explores the relationship between science, art, and representation; contemporary British scientific and popular culture; and the varied communities and networks with which Darwin interacts during various periods of his scientific life.and#8221;and#8212;Mark B. Adams, University of Pennsylvania
Review
and#8220;This attractive and readable book makes a valuable contribution to Darwin studies--precise, historically accurate, provided here in an excellent translation, and on a subject that is bound to fascinate.and#8221;--Janet Browne, author of
Charles Darwin: Voyaging and
Charles Darwin: The Power of PlaceReview
". . . a very satisfying book and a worthy addition to the Darwinian literature."--
The Quarterly Review of BiologyReview
"Julia Voss has done us all a great service with her telling of the importance of the visual in the Darwinian Revolution. . . . All in all, this is a very satisfying book and a worthy addition to the Darwinian literature."and#8212;Michael Ruse, The Quarterly Review of Biology
About the Author
Julia Voss, a scholar in history of science, art history, and picture theory, is Executive Editor of the visual arts section of the large German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. She has received two awards for the German edition of Darwinand#8217;s Pictures: the 2006 Otto Hahn Medal from the Max Planck Society and the 2009 Sigmund Freud Prize for Science Writing by the German Academy for Language and Literature. Lori Lantz is the translator of Bears: A Brief History.