Some of my critics have said, "Oh, he is a good observer, but he has no power of reasoning!" I do not think that this can be true, for the 'Origin of Species' is one long argument from the beginning to the end, and it has convinced not a few able men.
A brilliant example of understatement with a touch of unintended irony. The fact is that Darwin’s Origin of Species has convinced more than just a few able men. In fact, nearly the entirety of mankind that routinely accepts as fact that which must still by definition be referred to as theory. The irony being that for some strange reason contemporary America seems to be reaching for nearly an all-time high of those who reject Darwin’s outline of the evolutionary process. Fact upon fact has since proven that Darwin was, indeed, a majestically talented observer, but also a remarkably insightful master of reasoning.
Considering how fiercely I have been attacked by the orthodox, it seems ludicrous that I once intended to be a clergyman.
Some readers may be surprised to learn that the man often accused—hyperbolically—of trying to single-handedly destroy Judeo-Christian religion had originally intended to become a minister. A quick read of Mr. Darwin’s biography reveals that his life almost seems to be one of persistent irony.
I heard that I had run a very narrow risk of being rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent disciple of Lavater, and was convinced that he could judge of a man's character by the outline of his features; and he doubted whether any one with my nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the voyage.
For instance, there is the irony that the history of the study of evolution might well have gone an entirely direction—certainly it would have played out, but perhaps delayed by decades or even centuries—on the basis of the shape of Darwin’s nose. The Captain of the Beagle, the ship on which Darwin sailed into history, came very close to rejecting him on the basis of a belief that can only be termed superstitious nonsense. The irony there is heavy indeed.
My chief enjoyment and sole employment throughout life has been scientific work; and the excitement from such work makes me for the time forget, or drives quite away, my daily discomfort. I have therefore nothing to record during the rest of my life, except the publication of my several books.
The average reader may be quite surprised at the size of the autobiography recorded by one of the most important figures of the 19th century and one of the most revolutionary scientists in history. It is a remarkably thin book and its author a spectacularly modest individual. That modesty is revealed here as he almost dismissively comments upon his “books.” Volumes that are, by any standard of measurement, among the most influential and controversial and earth-shattering tomes ever published.
