Evening star., 1928-02-14
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
CHARLES DARWIN: The Man and
His Warfare Henshaw Ward. The
BObbs- Merrill Co.
I. C.. M.

Last Sunday, February H. was the
| 118th birthday of two great emanci-
pat0rs. Abraham Lincoln and Charles
Darwin. The one freed human beings
| within the United States from slavery
| The other delivered human thought
along certain lines from the field OF an
almost exclusive speculation. offering IT,
| instead. the exactitudes OF modern SCI
ence-close and multiplied observations
comparison. experiment. deduction. all
moving out, finally, into the domain OF
| authenticated knowledge.
February IL of every year finds. and
will continue to find, our country deep
~ engrosscd in gratitude to Abraham
Lincoln and in open homage to him.
The press, a fresh array Of publications
upon this theme, ceremonies many and
varied. combine each year to remind
ourselves and the rest OF the world OF
the supreme debt to Lincoln. Happily,
however. mental appraisals and emo
tional recognitions are not, like ma
terial goods. capable OF overcrowdlngs
and exclusions. So. with no diminution
OF devotion to the one. now Is the best
Of all points in the year to accord high
tribute to Charles Darwin. the man who
In so large q measure has contributed
to both the quality and the method OF
modern thinking in every conceivable
department Of current life.
Sincere general homage derives from
a fair knowledge nf the public service
and the life facts of him to whom IL Is
paid And here at the most appropriate
| moment of the year is offered opportu-
nifty to learn OF Darwin and his work or
to refresh knowledge on the subject al
ready more or less in mind.
The sharp rise of biography in COM
mon favor Is Sourced partly in a revised
concept of history and partly upon the
| recent more dramatic method OF project
ing the geographic study. History, in
its most effective expression, does not
| any more consist in a mere record OF
the run OF events, no matter how great
and far-reaching these may be. Rather
does modern treatment Of history focus
upon this character, or that small
group, upon this vital and influential
personality or upon that one. for It's
clearest interpretations. for its deepest
significances. So the great lie story
becomes the true expounder, the bright
illuminator OF history itself.
Mr.. Henshaw Ward stands as an
ideal approach to the life and work OF
Charles Darwin. You have. perhaps,
been out with this author before--may-
be in the adventure Of Exploring the
Universe" maybe tracing the "Evolu-
ton Of John Doe" In either case. you
recall him as man waywise in the field
of science, familiar with its content and
with the general method by way OF
which 1t Is seized and apprehended.
You remember. have no doubt. Mr..
Wards deep preoccupation with the
scientist himself, with the man behind
the work So here. 1t is with Charles
Darwin. boy and man. that he Is much
concerned. For in this nature lay the
seed from whose growth the world has
gathered so great store Of knowledge
about life. Amazing story. that OF the
inherent power Of every form OF life To
adapt itself TO the element in which It
has to live and by such adaptation TO
survive. while other life forms. less fex-
ihle. less accommodating. fall away,
leaving the story Of defeat in the great
geologic epic Of the earth.
And so. as the vital starting point
Of the story Of Darwin. Mr.. Ward tells
us of the boy. Charles Darwin. who BY
way Of parental choice might have been
q doctor-since doctors ran in the OAR
win family-or even q preacher. Yet
an undivided passion for bugs and
beetles and butterflies carried no great
promise for either medicine or the cler-
gy The boy never grew tired OF watch
ing the amazing ingenuity OF these
small things in the business OF keeping
themselves aliye-themselves and their
progeny. The game became 50 fascinat-
ing and SO absorbing that the wise
elders were so convinced Of the fuulity
of their own hopes for Charles that
they. in effect turned him loose upon
his consuming curiosity about the natu-
raj world around him.
It Is at this point that the true ad-
venture begins-and 1t Is adventure OF
clearest stripe. Years Of travel and re-
search follow. South America, the
Coral Islands and other far points be-
forms OF lowly life are studied and re-
studied for their origins and surviyals
and variations. After long years Of in
vestiea,ion and revision Darwin is ready
to submit to the world his theory Of
the Origin Of Species" In the mean
time. around him are gathered the no.
table scientists OF his day-gathered in
their printed works or in q personal
association. The help that these give
10 the new investigator is here weighed,
in large part by Darwin himself. Lyell
Asa Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker. Hux-
ley. Owen. Alfred Russell Wallace-some
III support. some in opposition. step out
here In a clear accounting Of individual
outlook and position upon the case Of
Charles Darwin. THIS Is a time Of
warfare. Fellow scientists stand pas
sionately for or against Darwin's theory
Of the origin Of species. There Is no
middle ground of accommodation for
these opposing ranks. Darwin himself
Is the only tranquil human In sight
during fAd Ottv iaA fYS
his Investigations. testing them ut
thousand points OF possible error. recast-
ing the whole from this point Of view
or that one. Darwin has no time for the
warfare going on around him. Then the
opposition moved out into the world.
chiefly into the churches. keen 10 pos
sible onslaughtS against the very strong
hold OF revealed religion. And even to
this day men Of q certain brand OF
thinking stand OF against the dangers
OF Charles Darwin In his discoveries
tending toward different interpreta-
tion Of life from that builded upon the
earlier conceptions when the book OF
life-the great book Of Science-~hsd not
vet had even its covers opened even a
little way
However. that Is another story This
one Is q very understanding and SYM
pathetic account OF the man who In face
OF every sort Of opposition went his way
steadily. led always by his own findings
and those OF fellow scientists toward
body Of knowledge as useful 10 all en-
lightened world as the personality and
character OF the man himself are sur
paSSingly worth while 10 every reader
VINO finds 4 great stir In the work and
achievements Of truth seekers III the
amazing domain Of nature
Others have written the life " Oar
win. Competent and distinguished
writer's have given their powers 10 him.
Tor this Is \ noteworthy man euhndy-
ing theories Of vast Importance. and so
his various pronouncementS Sedulous
attention has ALREADY been paid II is
u good thing for the general reader,
nevertheless. that this fact did not shut
Nff Mr Wnrd.s hincral,hx ~ Darwin