Presentation is everything. W. J. Dempster’s biography of Patrick Matthew, an
obscure Scottish arboriculturalist, Evolutionary Concepts in the Nineteenth
Century (The Pentland Press, £12.50, ISBN 1 85821 356 8) shows how true
this is. In 1831, when Charles Darwin had just set sail on the Beagle, Matthew
published a clear and accurate description of natural selection in a book
principally about tree growing. Dempster paints a picture of a man wronged, but
also of someone who was taciturn, pedantic and antisocial. The moral? If you
have a brilliant idea, sell it well.
More from New ÒÁÈ˾þÃ
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Life
We may finally know why dinosaurs like T. rex evolved tiny arms
News
Space
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
Features
Environment
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
News
Environment
Wind-assisted cargo ships could more than halve shipping emissions
News
Popular articles
Trending New ÒÁÈ˾þà articles
1
The ‘doomsday’ glacier’s giant ice shelf is about to break away
2
Mystery of the ancient giant stone jars of Laos may have been solved
3
How I used psychology to come back from the worst year of my life
4
Why autism pioneer Uta Frith wants to dismantle the spectrum
5
Solar farm on the ocean outperforms land-based solar in Taiwan
6
The distant world that is our best hope of finding alien life
7
Himalayan wolf-dog hybrids emerge as a threat to wolves and people
8
Wind-assisted cargo ships could more than halve shipping emissions
9
US government releases huge batch of UFO files
10
Colossal claims an artificial eggshell will help it bring back the moa
