The most important book ever written

No other book has so transformed how we look at the natural world and mankind's origins

Why does Darwin's theory matter now? Because it is the basis of modern biology and much medical research; it provides a tool with which to understand the natural world; it offers a deeper, if imperfect, understanding of our behaviour, about where we came from and where we might be going

Browne's first volume was warmly received when it appeared seven years ago, and the second triumphantly fulfils its promise...[a] remarkable book

A marvellous book... This second part of the life stands on its own. Soothing, unhurried and absorbing

A fitting tribute to his career, as it combines, in both style and substance, the different themes of his life's work. Blending genuine literary talents with impeccable scientific credentials, Gould crafts an elegant entreaty for scientists and scholars to spend less time complaining about each other and more time combining their considerable resources. We need both the fox and the hedgehog in any intellectual menagerie - the persistent pluralist