John Wesley Judd (1840 1916) had a distinguished career, serving as both President of the Geological Society and Dean of the Royal College of Science. Before his retirement as Professor of Geology from Imperial College, he wrote this concise and accessible review of the beginnings of evolutionary theory. Judd skilfully examined the roots of an idea that, already by 1910, had profoundly influenced every branch of science and permeated the work of historians, politicians and theologians. His lively narrative introduces the key individuals, including Darwin and Lyell, who brought about this...

George John Romanes (1848 94) was an influential evolutionary biologist whose work focused on the evolution of mental faculties. Although criticised for his anecdotal method, he is credited as being one of the pioneers of comparative psychology for his work on animal intelligence, and he also contributed to the development of the theory of natural selection. Romanes and Charles Darwin (1809 82) were close friends, and Darwin gave Romanes his notes on psychology for use in his studies. First published in 1896, this biography was written by his wife Ethel (1856 1927), also an author on...