Erasmus Darwin Sex, Science, and Serendipity

Fara is no dry academic and her pleasing book is, in part, an entertaining account of her research journey in the Rare Books Department of Cambridge University Library and elsewhere. Some of her discoveries are engagingly serendipitous - an important, but sometimes understated feature of serious research. Susan Elkin, Independent on Sunday An ingenious and engaging romp through the unexpected byways of scientific and social history. The Lancet Fara's account is a welcome addition to the existing works on Darwin and offers a new way of understanding him as an important figure of the Enlightenment. History West Midlands