Erasmus Darwin (Grandfather of Charles Darwin)
Publisher’s blurb: "18th Century Europe: It is an age when superstition is beginning to give way to the force of human reason, and no man so fully embodies the spirit of the times as Dr. Erasmus Darwin. Thinker, healer, and explorer of the bizarre and the seemingly supernatural, no mystery can stand for long against Darwin's enlightened analysis. And there are far more mysteries than history knows. . . . For Erasmus Darwin's world is filled with oddities that most cannot believe: from unknown beings lurking just outside the boundaries of civilization, to anomalies that even the greatest natural philosophers will be hard-pressed to explain, to mysterious deaths that give rise to fears of malevolent sorcery."
- The Amazing Dr. Darwin, (Baen June 2002); a collection of linked stories:
- Introduction, (in) *; Read online
- "The Devil of Malkirk," (na) F&SF June 1982; Read online
- "The Heart of Ahura Mazda," (nv) AHMM Nov. 1988
- "The Phantom of Dunwell Cove," (nv) Asimov’s Aug. 1995
- "The Lambeth Immortal," (nv) AHMM June 1979
- "The Solborne Vampire," (nv) AHMM Jan. 1998
- "The Treasure of Odirex," (na) Fantastic July 1978
- Appendix- Erasmus Magister: Fact and Fiction, (ar) Erasmus Magister, Ace 1982
The Amazing Dr. Darwin was preceded by an earlier version: Erasmus Magister, (Ace June 1982); also, Sheffield later wrote an additional Erasmus Darwin story:
- "The Demon of E Staircase," (ss) AHMM Jan. 2003
Read more about this topic: Charles Sheffield, Fiction, Series
Famous quotes containing the words erasmus, darwin and/or charles:
“It’s the generally accepted privilege of theologians to stretch the heavens, that is the Scriptures, like tanners with a hide.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)
“Natural selection, the blind, unconscious, automatic process which Darwin discovered, and which we now know is the explanation for the existence and apparently purposeful form of all life, has no purpose in mind. It has no mind and no mind’s eye. It does not plan for the future. It has no vision, no foresight, no sight at all. If it can be said to play the role of the watchmaker in nature, it is the blind watchmaker.”
—Richard Dawkins (b. 1941)
“Mead had studied for the ministry, but had lost his faith and took great delight in blasphemy. Capt. Charles H. Frady, pioneer missionary, held a meeting here and brought Mead back into the fold. He then became so devout that, one Sunday, when he happened upon a swimming party, he shot at the people in the river, and threatened to kill anyone he again caught desecrating the Sabbath.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)