Darwin's Dogs: How Darwin's Pets Helped Form a World-Changing Theory of Evolution

Anyone who has ever looked at a dog waiting to go for a walk and thought there was something age-old and almost human in its sad expression can take comfort in knowing that Charles Darwin did exactly the same thing. But Darwin didn’t just stop at feeling that there was some connection between humans and dogs. A great naturalist, pioneer of the theory of evolution, and incurable dog-lover, Darwin used his much-loved dogs as evidence in his continuing argument that all animals, including human beings, descended from one common ancestor. Emma Townshend looks at Darwin’s life through a uniquely canine perspective, from his fondly written letters home inquiring after the health of family pets to his profound scientific consideration of the ancestry of the domesticated dog. Vintage photographs of dogs, together with modern diagrams, help show the visual aspects of the evolutionary theory.