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Loading... Down House: The Home of Charles Darwinby Tori Reeve
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Charles Darwin lived for 40 years at Down House in rural Kent. Here he developed a scientific theory that would rock the world. This illustrated guide takes the visitor on a tour of the house and the gardens that Darwin used as his open-air laboratory. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)914.2230486History and Geography Geography and Travel Geography of and travel in Europe England and Wales Southeastern England, Home Counties, Thames River Kent and Medway Borough Travel 1837-RatingAverage:
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This small 52 page book, published by English Heritage, offers a beautiful, informative guide to Down House, replete with excellent photographs, diagrams, pictures, and text. The first part of the book is devoted to Down House itself, and focuses successively on each of the rooms, followed by the garden, the lawn, the greenhouse, and the Sandwalk (where Darwin took his twice-daily constitutional). The second part of the book focuses on history of the house, mainly during the Darwins' residence there, but also before and after. Of particular value are the diagrams that show the successive modifications to the house, since it was more than doubled in size during the Darwins' residence, in order to house their large family and the staff of servants. Other aspects focus on the village of Downe (as it came to be spelled), the writing of Origin of Species, and Darwin's scientific legacy.
Down House: The Home of Charles Darwin is a superb resource and an invaluable one, since much of its content is buried in books now out- of- print. It is superior to one published a few years ago as a tour booklet, and clearly, great care went into its writing. Its publication is a tribute to the great scientist who revolutionized biological science and changed irrevocably our understanding of life's diversity and our own relationship to the rest of the natural world. ( )