Darwin: My Ancestor - Episode 1

Writer and poet Ruth Padel investigates the qualities of her great great grandfather Charles Darwin and attempts to discover the man behind the science. Ruth explores how Darwin developed the sense of wonder and curiosity about nature which would be so crucial to his work. She investigates how important his childhood collecting was to him and asks how his enthusiasm developed into a scientific understanding of the world around him. Among her interviewees are Darwin's biographer Janet Browne, geologist Richard Fortey, writer and fellow Darwin descendant Randal Keynes and Darwin scholar Gillian Beer.