Hooper, Judith. Of moths and men: an evolutionary tale; the untold story of science and the peppered moth.

HOOPER, Judith. Of moths and men: an evolutionary tale; the untold story of science and the peppered moth. Norton. 377p. illus. notes. bibliog. index. c2002. 0-393-32525-3. $15.95. SA

In 1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species, starting a debate still raging today. In England Darwin had his supporters, those scientists eager to defend his theory of evolution. But where was the proof? At Oxford University the founding fathers of population genetics thought the answer lay in the peppered moth, and supported the field research of an amateur entomologist named Bernard Kettlewen. In 1953 Kettlewell, doctor of medicine and obsessed moth man, devised and carried out a field experiment with moths outside Birmingham, hoping to provide the world with Darwin's missing evidence. A black mutant form of the peppered moth teemed around England's polluted cities; pale moths lived in the unsullied countryside. Had the white moths evolved to elude hungry birds by turning dark? Kettlewell's results, published in 1959, seemed to prove that industrial melanism was a fact. In 1973 he finally published his magnum opus, The Evolution of Melanism, and his work could be found in every textbook. It has been only recently that Ted Sargent of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst--and others--have found serious flaws in Kettlewell's original experiment and in his conclusions.

In retelling this fascinating detective story, Judith Hooper presents not only the science (in cogent, understandable language) but also the lives of the flawed scientists involved. Kettlewell the man suffered much. His daughter had an insatiable sexual appetite and committed suicide at 32. His son was an academic disappointment. His "friends" in academia were devious backbiters. He was even a joke among the snobbish students, who saw him as uncouth. His story is absorbing and Hooper's telling of it exemplary. Copious notes, a thorough bibliography and index, as well as a brief glossary and chronology accompany a text notable for both its humor and passion. Eight pages of photos are included. Highly recommended. Janet Julian, Grafton, MA