A Scientific Feud Beneath the Waves

Reef Madness is a work of narrative science history from journalist David Dobbs, tracing the nineteenth century clash between Charles Darwin and the Agassiz family over how coral reefs actually form.

Dobbs follows Darwin's subsidence theory through decades of challenge from Alexander Agassiz, who devoted much of his career to trying to disprove it, and shows how the dispute was not finally settled until well into the twentieth century.

Written by a science writer whose work regularly appears in major American publications, the book suits readers who enjoy the history of science, natural history, or a good long-running academic rivalry.

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