At six foot even, Charles Darwin was not a towering figure physically—especially compared to his father Robert Darwin and his father’s father Erasmus Darwin, who were not only taller but also immensely obese. But his importance to science is so great that his biographers often have erected outsized monuments in response: Janet Browne’s magnificent biography occupies two volumes (Charles Darwin: Voyaging, 1995, and Charles Darwin: The Power of Place, 2002) and more than 1200 pages. Such a compendious treatment, which allots no fewer than six pages just to Darwin’s collection of photographs, is not for everyone, though, and J. David Archibald’s Charles Darwin is a marvelous alternative for anyone seeking a concise, accurate, and readable guide to the life and works of the great naturalist.
A distinguished paleobiologist at San Diego State University, Archibald turned in his retirement to the history of biology, writing Aristotle’s Ladder, Darwin’s...