The Autobiography of Charles Darwin: 1809-1882
First published 1887 · 224 pages
- Science and nature
- Biography and memoir
Darwin wrote this short memoir late in life for his family, not for publication. He looks back on his childhood, his schooling, his abandoned medical studies and his years at Cambridge, then describes the Beagle voyage and the long, quiet working life that followed at his home in Kent.
He writes modestly about his own talents and habits, the development of his ideas, and his changing views on religion. He also describes his books, his friends and his family, and his declining taste for poetry and music. It is a candid and gentle portrait of a great scientist, first published after his death in an edition shaped by his family.
Quotes
I have steadily endeavoured to keep my mind free so as to give up any hypothesis, however much beloved (and I cannot resist forming one on every subject), as soon as facts are shown to be opposed to it.