Book excerpt: "...As author Lou Rosenblatt explains, the year 1832 in Darwin's life was crucial for the development of his theory of evolution. A century and a half of study of Darwin, the man, and his work, including close readings of his books, notebooks, letters, and even the books he read, has led to a working appreciation of his genius. The "success" of this account has, however, kept us from seeing several important issues: most notably, why did he pursue evolution in the first place? While this book is neither an almanac of 1832, nor a biography of Charles Darwin (though both are at the heart of Rosenblatt's work), Buckets from an English Sea offers a unique take on the factors that shaped Darwin's legendary theory and the making of him as a scientist..."--Dust jacket.