Reef Madness

Charles Darwin, Alexander Agassiz, and the Meaning of Coral
by David Dobbs

A riveting account of the origin of coral reefs and the men who debated those origins.

“ Brilliantly written, sometimes unbearably poignant, Reef Madness provides an enthralling picture of three grand scientific minds: the stormy relationship of Louis and Alexander Agassiz and their fateful enmeshment with Charles Darwin. The coral reef story becomes a microcosm of the conflicts—between idealism and empiricism, God and evolution—which were to split science and culture in the nineteenth century and which still split them today.” –Oliver Sacks

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