Darwin's armada / Iain McCalman.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Originally published: London: Simon and Schuster, 2009.

Darwin's last voyage -- Charles Darwin and the the Beagle, 1831-36 -- The prodigal son -- The philosopher at sea -- Islands on his mind -- Joseph Hooker and the Ross Expedition, 1839-43 -- The puppet of natural selection -- The travails of a young botanist -- Pilgrims and pioneers -- Thomas Huxley and the voyage of the Rattlesnake, 1846-50 -- Love and jellyfish -- To hell and back -- Walking with devils -- Alfred Wallace in the Amazon and South-East Asia, 1848-66 -- A socialist in the Amazon -- The law of the jungle -- boats, birds and peoples of paradise -- The Armada at War, 1859-82 -- Taking soundings -- S.O.S. -- Battle -- Epilogue: A pension for a Captain.

Cultural historian Iain McCalman tells the stories of Charles Darwin and his most vocal supporters and colleagues: Joseph Hooker, Thomas Huxley, and Alfred Wallace. Beginning with the somber morning of April 26, 1882--the day of Darwin's funeral--Darwin's Armada steps back in time and recounts the lives and scientific discoveries of each of these explorers. The four amateur naturalists voyaged separately from Britain to the southern hemisphere in search of adventure and scientific fame. From Darwin's inaugural trip on the Beagle in 1835 through Wallace's exploits in the Amazon and Malaysia in the 1840s and 1850s, each man independently made discoveries that led him to embrace Darwin's groundbreaking theory of evolution. This book reveals the untold story of Darwin's greatest supporters who, during his life, campaigned passionately in the war of ideas over evolution and who lived on to extend and advance the scope of his work.--From publisher description.