Module 12: Biography & Autobiography
Book Summary
The book begin’s with Charles Darwin having a hard time deciding whether or not to get married. He made a pros and cons list and decided on getting married because the pros outweighed the cons!
The book chronicles Charles and Emma's lives as husband and wife starting with how they met (they were first cousins!), to having children (they had 10!), and all the way until their deaths—first Charles, then Emma. In tandem are the scientific discoveries Charles is making throughout his life, such as his theory of evolution. Along with Charles’ scientific work and publishing (which Emma helped with, too!), the theme of religion plays a big part in the Darwins’ story. Emma was very religious and Charles was pretty much agnostic or even atheist. They struggled with their religious differences for their entire lives but still managed to listen to, respect, and contemplate each other’s points of view. Most striking was perhaps how this book portrayed Charles Darwin as a very loving husband and father. He loved Emma more than anything in the world, and he loved and spent a lot of time with his children, which at the time (and still for some folks) was very rare for fathers to really pay any attention at all to their kids. Another thing I did not know about Charles Darwin that I learned from this book is that he was very sickly, and I feel really sad that he was ill so often.
The book chronicles Charles and Emma's lives as husband and wife starting with how they met (they were first cousins!), to having children (they had 10!), and all the way until their deaths—first Charles, then Emma. In tandem are the scientific discoveries Charles is making throughout his life, such as his theory of evolution. Along with Charles’ scientific work and publishing (which Emma helped with, too!), the theme of religion plays a big part in the Darwins’ story. Emma was very religious and Charles was pretty much agnostic or even atheist. They struggled with their religious differences for their entire lives but still managed to listen to, respect, and contemplate each other’s points of view. Most striking was perhaps how this book portrayed Charles Darwin as a very loving husband and father. He loved Emma more than anything in the world, and he loved and spent a lot of time with his children, which at the time (and still for some folks) was very rare for fathers to really pay any attention at all to their kids. Another thing I did not know about Charles Darwin that I learned from this book is that he was very sickly, and I feel really sad that he was ill so often.
APA Reference of Book
Heiligman, D. (2009). Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company, LLC.
Impressions
This book is awesome. It’s a biography of Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma. It chronicles a different aspect of Darwin’s life than we are used to reading about.
Charles Darwin is one of my heroes and this book reinforced that even more. You know how sometimes you find out bad stuff about people you really admire, like celebrities or historical figures, and you feel kind of betrayed? Well, this book did the exact opposite. It was refreshing to learn that Charles Darwin, aside from being a brilliant and brave scientist, was also a good person! He loved his wife so much! How many scientific dudes do we learn about just seem so stern and emotionless (not to mention how many ideas were stolen from women or the situations where women collaborated but were not given credit for their part). But here we have Charles Darwin, one of the biggest names in science, and he is an emotional, sappy ball of mush for his wifey and his kiddos!! I love it!
Professional Review
When the book opens, Charles Darwin is trying to make a decision, and he is doing so in time-honored fashion: drawing a line down a piece of paper and putting the pros of marriage on one side and the cons on the other. As much as Darwin is interested in wedded life, he is afraid that family life will take him away from the revolutionary work he is doing on the evolution of species. However, the pluses triumph, and he finds the perfect mate in his first-cousin Emma, who becomes his comforter, editor, mother of his 10 children--and sparring partner. Although highly congenial, Charles and Emma were on opposite sides when it came to the role of God in creation. Heiligman uses the Darwin family letters and papers to craft a full-bodied look at the personal influences that shaped Charles' life as he worked mightily to form his theories. This intersection between religion and science is where the book shines, but it is also an excellent portrait of what life was like during the Victorian era, a time when illness and death were ever present, and, in a way, a real-time example of the survival of the fittest. Occasionally hard to follow, in part because of the many characters (the family tree helps), this is well sourced and mostly fascinating, and may attract a wider audience than those interested in science. Austen fans will find a romance to like here, too. To be illustrated with photographs. Ilene Cooper
Reference
Cooper, I. (2009, January 1 & 15). Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ leap of faith. [Review of the book Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith by D. Heiligman]. Booklist, 105(9-10), 68.
Library Uses
Do a subject study! There are TONS of children’s/young adult books about Charles Darwin. For example, you could include beautifully illustrated The Tree of Life by Peter Sís (whose books are ALL beautifully illustrated!).
Then you could also study the theory of evolution and connect it to some STEM/STEAM/STREAM programming with activities on evolution and ecology, such as species classification, look at the differences/similarities between easy-to-handle animals (like bugs!).
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