Our understanding of Charles Darwin continues to evolve

Our understanding of Charles Darwin continues to evolve Skip to content Subscribe today Every print subscription comes with full digital access Subscribe Now By Aaron Tremper May 15, 2026 at 11:00 am Share this: Share Share via email (Opens in new window) Email Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook Share on Reddit (Opens in new window) Reddit Share on X (Opens in new window) X Print (Opens in new window) Print Darwin: A Biography Janet Browne Princeton University Press, $35.00 Charles Darwin had it out for the iguanas of the Galápagos Islands. When the 26-year-old naturalist encountered marine iguanas on San Cristóbal Island in 1835, he repeatedly tossed these “most disgusting, clumsy lizards” into the ocean to test their preference for water. Later, he described yanking the tails of their land-based cousins on Isla Isabela. The landlubbers, he noted, were “ugly animals” that had a “singularly stupid appearance.” These antics, unbecoming for one of modern biology’s founding fathers , are among many curveballs that historian of science Janet Browne pitches in Darwin: A Biography . The book, an abridged version of Browne’s two longer Darwin biographies, distills the rich, complicated life of the beloved naturalist into 624 pages. Readers first meet a young Darwin who is enthralled by beetle-collecting and grieving the death of his mother. While his hobby helped Darwin hone the techniques he relied on in his career, losing his mother inspired lifelong hypochondria, Browne suggests. It doesn’t take long to get to what is perhaps the most pivotal moment in Darwin’s life: his voyage on the H.M.S. Beagle . This nearly five-year trip around the world supplied Darwin with the observations, specimens and worldly experience needed to pen his magnum opus, On the Origin of Species , decades later. Browne makes it clear that Darwin’s own origins were steeped in privilege. His affluent upbringing offered him access to people and services that made such a trip possible.