The new Peguin Books' edition of Darwin's On the Origin of Species... features a cover by celebrated/reviled (dependent on one's opinion!) modern artist Damian Hirst. Now, while I quite like some (but not all) of Hirst's work - and recall I am no art aficionado, this cover seems a little odd to my tender eyes - a little like a cross between Francis Bacon's Pope paintings and something from Tim Burton's ghoulish animations. Still, it makes a nice change from pictures of heavily bearded Charles Darwin, or of finches etc.