The Life of Erasmus Darwin is the 1879 biography of Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802) by his grandson Charles Darwin.
Before publication however 16% of the work was cut out by Charles' daughter Etty Darwin — mostly the most provocative parts. An unabridged edition edited by Desmond King-Hele was published in 2003 to mark the 200th anniversary since Erasmus' death.
Famous quotes containing the words life, erasmus and/or darwin:
“Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We’re all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.”
—David Cronenberg (b. 1943)
“Now I believe I can hear the philosophers protesting that it can only be misery to live in folly, illusion, deception and ignorance, but it isn’t—it’s human.”
—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)