I like to share about books that I believe my readers will find of interest. Sometimes, these posts are simply informational and include the publisher’s description and cover image. Others are my reviews, having read the book and shared some thoughts. As of June 2018, I will be sharing about books I am reading or have come across my way in a larger “On the bookshelf” post every couple of months (like this first one).
Please contact me at darwinsbulldog AT gmail DOT com about new books on Darwin, evolution, and related topics, and I will get back to you.
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You can see previous book reviews here and other posts sharing about new book titles here.
The Dispersal of Darwin 
Dear Michael
I expect you get the odd request from “crank” creationists and assorted contrarians asking you to review their books.
However, I am an established academic (you can see my citations here: http://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=4pAMC9UAAAAJ) with an international reputation as a respected social scientist. I don’t believe I am a crank. However, I have recently published a book that relies upon independently verifiable and newly discovered hard evidence that overturns current “knowledge” that no naturalist known to Darwin or Wallace read Matthew’s (1831) book “On Naval Timber and Arboriculture” that fully published the entire complex theory of natural selection (e.g. see Dawkins 2010 in Bryson’s edited collection “Seeing Further” for the orthodox Darwinist position on Matthew, Darwin and Wallace).
Contrary to current Darwinist “knowledge” that no one read Matthew’s book, my pioneering big data analysis of 30 million+ publications newly reveals that before Darwin penned the ‘Origin of Species’ at least 52 people read Matthew’s (1831) book ‘On Naval Timber and Arboriculture’, 25 actually cited it in the published literature! Moreover, 19 of those who read it were in Darwin’s inner social circle! Of the seven naturalists now newly known to have cited Matthew’s book in print, three played pivotal roles at the epicentre of Darwin’s and Wallace’s published and unpublished work on natural selection before the ‘Origin of Species’ was first published in 1859.
Knowledge contamination from Matthew to Darwin and Wallace is thus uniquely proven in this ground-breaking book, which 100 per cent proves that Matthew influenced both Darwin and Wallace through three major naturalists who cited his book: John Loudon, Prideaux John Selby and Robert Chambers.
Loudon cited Matthew’s book in 1832 and then went on to edit and publish Blyth’s highly influential papers of 1835 and 1837 on species variety and organic evolution! In the third edition of the Origin of Species Darwin fully admitted that Blyth was his most helpful and most prolific informant on the subject of species as it related to organic evolution. Chambers cited Matthew’s book in 1832 before writing the best-selling ‘Vestiges of Creation’ in 1844. And both Darwin and Wallace admitted the huge influence of Robert Chambers’s ‘Vestiges of Creation’ on their own work in the field of natural selection. Selby, who cited Matthew’s book many times in 1842, went on to edit and publish Wallace’s famous Sarawak paper of 1855!
My publisher – ThinkerMedia inc – has published my book ‘Nullius in Verba: Darwin’s greatest secret’ an all e-reading platforms. I believe my discovery re-writes the history of the discovery of natural selection. The book, which cost $10 (US) can be found on their site here:
http://www.bestthinking.com/ebooks/science/biology_and_nature/biology/nullius-in-verba-darwin-s-greatest-secret
I would very much like you to review my book and then to know what you make of the newly discovered data and also perhaps your views on what it means for the “Darwin Industry”.
Kindest regards
Dr Mike Sutton
Dr Mike Sutton – Once you’ve published your research in a history of science journal such as ISIS or BJHS, or as a book through an academic press, I’ll pay attention. If what you have found is indeed true and rewrites the history of evolutionary thought, University of Chicago Press and Cambridge University Press would surely be interested…
Alternatively you might have the confidence and gumption not to have to wait for some editor to tell you when its OK to read something. You know…kind of like the thing you think you admire Darwin for.
Dear Mike,
John E Riutta, aka the Well-Read Naturalist, encouraged me to contact you about my new book, ‘Mrs Pankhurst’s Purple Feather’ (Quarto Press, June 2018). It tells the story of the brave Victorian women who stood up to the plumage trade, campaigning against the fashion for feathered hats. These were the British founders of the RSPB (and, in America, the women behind the Audubon Society). Their story has never been told before.
I should love to send you a copy, if you think it would be of interest. Why women were wearing such extraordinary hats, at this time, throws up interesting questions about human adornment and natural selection: I would have loved to hear Darwin’s opinion, as I puzzled over it endlessly myself. I had an interesting review from the British Birder and blogger Mark Avery – a ‘challenging read,’ he said, for men. But one that did him good.
https://markavery.info/2018/05/13/bank-holiday-monday-book-review-mrs-pankhurts-purple-feather-by-tessa-boase/
thanks for taking the time to read this – and I hope to hear from you soon.
best wishes, Tessa (UK).