The garden where it all began (no, not that garden)
Part one: Flowers and trees. The little priest
The violist, no, banker, no...
The cross-dressing, world-traveling botanist and her lover (Lamarck was neither, but he ended up with their collection)
Part two: Insects and worms. The reluctant zoologist
The invention of invertebrates
The composition of matter
Part three: Birds and mammals. The zoological philosophy
The power of life and the inner feeling of existence
The natural history of animals without vertebrae
The birds and the bees (and the kangaroos)
Part four: Science and poetry. The battle of the mollusks
The battle of the boiled broth
Darwin's grandfather problems
He cut off their tails (not with a carving knife)
The gospel according to Saint William
The scandal of the midwife toad
The biologist who just couldn't seem to come in from the cold
Epilogue: The life-made world.
