” If you`ve ever fantasized walking & conversing with the great scientist on the subjects that consumed him, & now wish to add the fullness of reality, read this book.” Edward O. Wilson James T. Costa takes readers on a journey from Darwin`s youth & travels on the HMS Beagle to Down House, his bustling home of forty years. To test his insights into evolution, Darwin devised an astonishing array of hands-on experiments using his garden & greenhouse, surrounding meadows & woodlands, even taking over the cellar, study, yard & hallways of his home-turned-field-station. Darwin engaged his children, friends & neighbours as assistants & encouraged fellow naturalists to follow his lead. His inventive experiments yielded universal truths about nature & evidence for his revolutionary arguments in On the Origin of Species & other watershed works. We accompany Darwin in his myriad pursuits against the backdrop of his enduring marriage, chronic illness, grief at the loss of three children, & joy in scientific revelation. At each chapter`s end, Costa shows how we too can investigate the wonders of nature at work, with directions on how to re-create Darwin`s experiments.