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Perfect reading for your next beach holiday; you'll never look at a barnacle, or at Darwin, the same way again.--James A. Secord, author of Victorian Sensation

"A spellbinding story, intricate and beautifully told.--James Moore, co-author of ""Darwin"" Perfect reading for your next beach holiday; you'll never look at a barnacle, or at Darwin, the same way again.--James A. Secord, author of ""Victorian Sensation"" Stott is skillful with many of the thematic connections here and her narration is exciting, gripping and addictively readable.--Scarlett Thomas This is that rare book that sweeps you on from the first few pages...a brilliant performance.--Roy Herbert ""Now, at last, Rebecca Stott...has had the courage and tenacity to make Darwin's barnacles--and their importance--accessible to the rest of us."""

This is ostensibly a quirky piece of biography-driven pop history, taking as its central tale Darwin's decade-long postponement of the publication of his theory of natural selection in order to clear up the mystery of the quaintly nicknamed 'Mr Arthrobalanus', a bizarre variety of shell-less barnacle. Unable to reconcile his naturalist's instinct with the plain evidence of fact - if it has no shell, how can it be a barnacle? - the godfather of modern zoology laid aside the text that was to change the world of natural science forever, and devoted eight years to a systematic study of every specimen and type of barnacle thus far catalogued in an attempt to unravel the truth. Interesting enough, no doubt - but what has this to do with more legitimately pressing facets of the life of this extraordinary man? Stott's wonderfully written book shows us with ease. This weird creature is literally the meat of an age of theoretic revolution; in the face of such apparent 'monsters', the old systems of classification were falling like skittles and a new science forming in their place. The mechanics of speciation are central to Darwinism and an argument still hotly debated; Stott uses an engagingly odd piece of scientific history to recapture the breathlessness of its inception. This is exhilarating stuff, served up hot with a generous dollop of love; a fond portrait of Darwin the obsessive genius naturalist and a hymn to the spirit of the time that created him. Marvellously well researched and knowledgeable, peopled with colourful asides that have the golden age of the new science leaping from the page, and peppered with beautifully authentic old-style illustrations of the creatures themselves, this is a fascinating book that will fit snugly on any bookshelf. (Kirkus UK)

Author Information

Rebecca Stott is a writer, academic and radio broadcaster. She teaches in the English Literature Department of Anglia Polytechnic University in Cambridge and is an affiliated scholar in the Department of History and Philosophy of Science at Cambridge University. She has no aquarium and enjoys seafood. She lives in Cambridge and no longer dreams of barnacles.

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