David Quammen’s speech on Darwin was very interesting because it showed me a different side of Darwin that I never knew. Throughout school, I only learned about his theory of evolution, but never about the man behind it. Quammen went into some detail of Darwin’s life from career advances to his married life. David put a lot of emphasis on how Darwin was very honest and cautious throughout his life. He focused on him being honest when he wrote his books and looked at the criticisms of his work. He was also honest in all of his research so people could see the real product. Darwin was also very cautious to publish his book because he knew he was dealing with a very extreme issue. He waited twenty years to actually publish it.
David Quammens speaking style was very relaxed. He made it easy to listen by bringing in jokes and making Charles Darwin an easy person to understand. In the beginning of the lecture, he also pointed out that he didn’t mean to offend anyone in talking about evolution comparing to religious views. Quammen also made the point that Darwin’s book, Origin of Species, is an easy read and that we should all read it. He also made it known by holding up the book for everyone to see.
I think David was a very good speaker. He was able to keep the audience attention by going through Darwin’s life so we understood how he got to his findings. David also seemed legitimate to me because even though he likes Charles Darwin, he was not shy in recognizing Darwin’s faults. I think that is a major point that made Quammen a good speaker. Quammen’s speaking really made a difference in what I got from it. I feel like if it was someone who just stood up there and read off of a paper I wouldn’t have gotten as much out of it. One of the things that caught my attention was Darwin married his cousin Emma!
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