Reading the Rocks, the latest book by the frighteningly prolific biographer Brenda Maddox, relates how a handful of British men - and one woman - blasted out the intellectual cutting through which the theory of natural selection would follow . Maddox, whose previous biographical scalps include George Eliot, DH Lawrence and Rosalind Franklin, has a fine eye for idiosyncrasy, the primacy of money and the sheer squawking rivalrousness of the academic world' (Oliver Moody The Times)
If you liked Jenny Uglow's The Lunar Men, you'll enjoy this colourful group biography of the Victorian gentleman geologists and fossil-hunters (not all of whom were gentlemen) who established that the Earth was formed somewhat before 4004BC - which was the widely accepted date before those little geological hammers started chipping away. Maddox writes elegant, old-school scientific-biographical history, and she shapes this story neatly as a prequel to Charles Darwin's better-known one (Books of the Year Sunday Times)
Brenda Maddox's new book is about this magic moment in the history of modern geology . the overall result is a fascinating picture of scientific life, and of fundamental changes in thinking, over a vital half-century ***** (Daily Telegraph)
Maddox's book is a fascinating group biography of the pioneers of geology who eventually inspired Charles Darwin to develop his theory of evolution . Maddox brings to life the personalities of the time and conjures superbly the excitement and controversy that the new science caused (Ian Critchley Sunday Times)
The rock/collecting geek in me loved this enthralling group biography in Lunar Men-style of the first geologist (A History Pick of the Month Bookseller)
The intricacy of detail, such as professional jealousies and the finger points of controversies, will appeal to specialists, but the leavening of this scholarly book with a wealth of incidental information, from Lyell's views on slavery to Wordsworth's thoughts on the violations of Mother Nature, ensures that it will also be of interest to the general reader (Country Life)
