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Costa, James T., 1963-
Subjects
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Knowledge and learning.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Childhood and youth.
Evolution (Biology) -- History.
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Costa, James T., 1963-
by title:
Darwin's backyard : ...
by call number:
576.82 C837d
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Costa, James T., 1963-
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Knowledge and learning.
Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Childhood and youth.
Evolution (Biology) -- History.
MARC Display
Darwin
's
backyard
:
how
small
experiments
led
to a
big
theory
/ James T. Costa.
by
Costa, James T., 1963-
W.W. Norton, c2017.
Call #:
576.82 C837d
Subjects
Darwin
, Charles, 1809-1882.
Darwin
, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Knowledge and learning.
Darwin
, Charles, 1809-1882 -- Childhood and youth.
Evolution (Biology) -- History.
ISBN:
9780393239898 (hc.)
Edition:
1st ed.
Description:
xviii, 441 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.
Notes:
"Including do-it-yourself
experiments
"- cover.
Bibliography:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Origins of an experimentiser -- Experimentising: going to seed -- Barnacles to barbs -- Experimentising: doing your barnacles -- Untangling the bank -- Experimentising: a taste for botany -- Buzzing places -- Experimentising: bees' cells and bubbles -- A grand game of chess -- Experimentising: getting around -- The sex lives of plants -- Experimentising: Darwinian encounters of the floral kind -- It bears on design -- Experimentising: orchidelirium -- Plants with volition -- Experimentising: Feed me, Seymour! -- Crafty and sagacious climbers -- Experimentising: Seek and ye shall find -- Earthworm serenade -- Experimentising: Get thee to a wormery.
Summary:
"James T. Costa takes readers on a journey from
Darwin
's childhood through his voyage on the HMS Beagle where his ideas on evolution began. We then follow
Darwin
to Down House, his bustling home of forty years, where he kept porcupine quills at his desk to dissect barnacles, maintained a flock of sixteen pigeon breeds in the dovecote, and cultivated climbing plants in the study, and to Bournemouth, where on one memorable family vacation he fed carnivorous plants in the soup dishes. Using his garden and greenhouse, the surrounding meadows and woodlands, and even taking over the cellar, study, and hallways of his home-turned-field-station,
Darwin
tested ideas of his landmark
theory
of evolution with an astonishing array of hands-on
experiments
that could be done on the fly, without specialized equipment. He engaged naturalists, friends, neighbors, family servants, and even his children, nieces, nephews, and cousins as assistants in these
experiments
, which involved everything from chasing bees and tempting fish to eat seeds to serenading earthworms. From the
experiments
' results, he plumbed the laws of nature and evidence for the revolutionary arguments of On the Origin of Species and his other watershed works. Beyond
Darwin
at work, we accompany him against the backdrop of his enduring marriage, chronic illness, grief at the loss of three children, and joy in scientific revelation. This unique glimpse of
Darwin
's life introduces us to an enthusiastic correspondent, crowd-sourcer, family man, and, most of all, an incorrigible observer and experimenter."--Jacket flap.
Holds:
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Call No.
Item type
Status
Central Library
Adult Nonfiction
576.82 C837d
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