ABOUT THIS BOOK

A biography of the provocative nineteenth-century English naturalist.

Brilliant, hard-working, and immensely productive, the naturalist Richard Owen was a great ambassador for science and played an outsized role in shaping London’s Natural History Museum. Still, Owen was a provocative bully, accused of plagiarism, and the only man Charles Darwin claimed to hate since Owen staunchly opposed his ideas about natural selection despite sharing similar views himself. This biography gives an account of Owen’s life and work and offers some speculation about the reasons behind his controversial behavior and strained relationships.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Patrick Armstrong taught geography and ecology at the University of Western Australia for twenty-eight years. He is the author of Alfred Russel Wallace, also published by Reaktion Books.

REVIEWS

"In this lively and sure-footed biography, distinguished historian of science Patrick Armstrong brilliantly brings a lifetime of scholarship to the task of explicating why Victorian-era palaeontologist and Charles Darwin collaborator and detractor Richard Owen remains worthy of our attention. A fascinating study!"

— Tom Chaffin, author of 'Odyssey: Charles Darwin, the Beagle, and the Voyage that Changed the World'

"Armstrong’s biography accomplishes its admirable purpose—describing in considerable detail Owen’s many accomplishments and contrasting them with his disagreeable nature."

— Geoffrey Martin, Southern Connecticut State University

"[Richard Owen] was a scientific colossus . . . Readers may not leave with feelings of admiration for the man himself, but they will surely come to appreciate his central role in the vibrant enterprise of natural history in the 1800s."

— Natural History

"British naturalist Richard Owen was at times kind and sensitive, at other times vindictive and even dishonest. . . . The author expertly analyzes the British social structure during Owen's day, which of course shaped some of his behavior. . . . Recommended."

— Choice

"Do read Armstrong’s book. It is an excellent introduction to a complex man who engaged in a complex, intriguing but eternal science."

— Evolution

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction
1 Northern Origins: Childhood and Early Life
2 Early Days in London: St Bartholomew’s Hospital, the Zoological Society and the Royal College of Surgeons
3 Monsters and Curiosities: Extant, Extinct and Non-Existent
4 Dr Owen, Dr Mantell and the Dinosaurs
5 Darwin and Owen
6 Huxley, the Hippocampus and Histrionics
7 The Evolution of Owen’s Evolutionary Ideas
8 Museums and Committees
9 A Cottage in Richmond Park, by Grace and Favour of Her Majesty
10 Owen’s Character and Personality

Chronology
References
Further Reading
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements

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