CHARLES DARWIN: A Biography

by John Bowlby ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 1991

The late British psychologist Bowlby, noted for his pioneering studies of mother-infant bonding and the emotional consequences of the loss of the mother, has added immeasurably to the Darwin literature with this important biography. In it, he offers his own psychodynamic interpretation of Darwin's chronic ill health, linking it with the death of his mother from ""gastric illness"" when Darwin was eight. Clearly, the stage is set for a psychodrama in which our hero is an earnest, intelligent, hypersensitive young man, put off from either a career in medicine (too bloody) or the church (a nonbeliever). But this is not psychohistory in the Eriksonian tradition. Bowlby meticulously chronicles the life through the copious diaries and letters of Darwin and his circle, while providing rich details of Victorian upper-class social and intellectual life. He parallels the major events in the intellectual history with details of Darwin's breakdowns and recurrent illnesses, whose symptoms read like a psychosomatic catalogue: flatulence, nausea, vomiting, and other gastric complaints; dizziness, palpitations, chest pains, headaches, numbness. . . . What's more, the symptoms tended to get worse when Darwin was attended by gloomy physicians (including father) and were relieved by quack cures like hydrotherapy. Bowlby attributes Darwin's illness to hyperventilation syndrome, a rather narrow psychoneurotic diagnosis. Be that as it may. His case for a psychological rather than a physiological basis (e.g., Chagas' disease) is strong. The symptoms were perpetuated by a loving wife and family, by prevailing medical beliefs, and by personality traits which triggered gastric reactions under the stress of personal criticism, his wife's confinements, and the sickness and death of others. Surprisingly, the psychological hypothesizing does not dominate here. What makes this an excellent biography is the fullness of detail, creating a portrait of Darwin as a remarkably likable, brilliant, and charming man, married to the estimable Emma and surrounded by multitudinous family and friends. It should be noted that Darwin lived to be 73, fathered 10 children, and died of heart disease.

Pub Date: March 25, 1991

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1991

Categories: NONFICTION