Origin Story

The Trials of Charles Darwin

Howard Markel (University of Michigan)

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English

Norton
31 July 2025

Biography: science, technology & engineering; Mathematics & Sciences; History of science; Evolution

By early morning of June 30, 1860, a large crowd began to congregate in front of Oxford University's brand-new Museum of Natural History. The occasion was the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, and the subject of discussion was Charles Darwin's new treatise: fact or fiction?

Darwin, a simultaneously reclusive and intellectually audacious squire from Kent, claimed to have solved ""that mystery of mysteries,"" introducing a logical explanation of the origin of species-how they adapted, even transmogrified, through natural selection. At stake, on that summer's day of spirited debate, was the very foundation of modern biology, not to mention the future of the church. Without fear of exaggeration, Darwin's thesis would forever change our understanding of the life sciences and the natural world. And yet the author himself was nowhere to be found in the debate hall-instead, he was miles away, seeking respite from a spate of illnesses that had plagued him for much of his adult life.

In Origin Story, medical historian Howard Markel recounts the two-year period (1858 to 1860) of Darwin's writing of On the Origin of Species through its spectacular success and controversy. Simultaneously, Markel delves into the mysterious health symptoms Darwin developed, combing the literature to emerge with a cogent diagnosis of a case that has long fascinated medical historians. The result is a colorful portrait of the man, his friends and enemies, and his seminal work, which resonates to this day.

By: Howard Markel (University of Michigan)
Imprint: Norton
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 211mm, Width: 137mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 291g
ISBN: 9781324110347
ISBN 10: 1324110341
Pages: 368
Publication Date: 31 July 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Howard Markel, MD, PhD, has practiced pediatrics and taught medical history at Johns Hopkins and University of Michigan. An award-winning author of The Secret of Life, National Academy of Medicine member, and Guggenheim fellow, he lives in New York.

Reviews for Origin Story: The Trials of Charles Darwin

""Insightful... Origin Story brings something new to the literary selection."" -- The Economist ""Markel, a medical historian, delivers a fresh take on a seminal event in the history of science—the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species’—along with lively portraits of the allies and adversaries who debated Darwin’s scandalous theory, and, not least, of the naturalist himself, plagued by debilitating illness and, hot on his heels, an equally brilliant competitor."" -- The New York Times Book Review