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Adam Sedgwick

Summary

One of the early leaders of geology in Britain, Adam Sedgwick  was born in the Yorkshire village of Dent in 1785. Attending Trinity College Cambridge, he was ordained as clergyman and in 1818 was appointed to the Woodwardian Chair of Geology, which offered…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … One of the early leaders of geology in Britain, Adam Sedgwick  was born in the Yorkshire village of …
  • … Despite having little prior knowledge of the subject, Sedgwick soon commenced fieldwork, offered …
  • … to build up the University's reputation in the sciences. Sedgwick's research soon centred …
  • … gatherings. In the summer of 1831 Darwin accompanied Sedgwick on a tour of the older fossil-bearing …
  • … and 'set him up wonderfully', as he told Henslow in a letter , 'Tell Prof: …
  • … three weeks, than in pounding the NW mountains.' Darwin and Sedgwick continued to correspond in …
  • … Darwin sent a copy of the first edition of Origin . Sedgwick had long battled against …
  • … friendly letters.  In 1870 they met for the last time, and Sedgwick took Darwin on a long tour of …

Controversy

Summary

The best-known controversies over Darwinian theory took place in public or in printed reviews. Many of these were highly polemical, presenting an over-simplified picture of the disputes. Letters, however, show that the responses to Darwin were extremely…

Matches: 13 hits

  • … engaged with critics publically. Letters exchanged with Adam Sedgwick, professor of geology at …
  • … came to regard him as a bitter enemy. Darwin and Sedgwick Letter 2525 — Darwin, …
  • … Darwin’s conclusion is diametrically opposed to that which Sedgwick has often advocated, but he …
  • … of brotherly love and as his true-hearted friend. Letter 2555 — Darwin, C. R. to …
  • … classes of facts”. Darwin and Owen Letter 2526 — Owen, Richard to Darwin, C. …
  • … the nature of such influences as “heterodox”. Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his book “the law of higgledy-piggledy”. Letter 2580 — Darwin, C. R. to Owen, Richard, …
  • … prevail without such aggressive tactics. Letter 5500 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, E. P. …
  • … reader to take the side of the attacked person. Letter 5533 — Haeckel, E. P. A. to …
  • … of the matter, a vigorous attack is essential. Letter 5544 — Darwin, C. R. to Haeckel, …
  • … political, and religious differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 …
  • … MS, but Darwin will offer to send it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … his views from anything Darwin wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …

The Voyage of the Beagle

Summary

It was a letter from his friend and former teacher, John Stevens Henslow, that brought the 22-year-old Charles Darwin news of the offer of a place on board the Admiralty surveying vessel HMS Beagle on a voyage to chart the coast of South America. During…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … never was a finer chance for a man of zeal & spirit. ( Letter from J. S. Henslow, 24 August …
  • … brought him to wider scientific attention. Henslow's letter was waiting for Darwin when …
  • … fieldtrip in Wales with another former teacher,  Adam Sedgwick .  Henslow had been asked to …

Darwin’s introduction to geology

Summary

Darwin collected minerals as a child and was introduced to the science of geology at the University of Edinburgh, but he only became actively interested in the subject as he was completing his degree at Cambridge.

Matches: 5 hits

  • … apprenticed himself to the Cambridge professor of geology, Adam Sedgwick, who had invited the young …
  • … geologist and for the invention of geological hypotheses.  Sedgwick gave this enthusiasm direction …
  • … ‘I would not give up for any consideration.’ Sedgwick met up with his protégé at the Darwin …
  • … 5 and 11 August.  Although field notes by both Darwin and Sedgwick have survived, the exact sequence …
  • … by historians.  On 12 August, Darwin may have accompanied Sedgwick to the island of Anglesey, where …

Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions

Summary

Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 22 hits

  • he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace. This
  • has  infinitely  exceeded my wildest hopes.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 [November 1859] ). …
  • to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • as evidence for what actually occurred in nature ( see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have
  • his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • selection. Darwins shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell
  • Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • on Charles Lyells endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the
  • McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallaces letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same
  • Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallaces letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the
  • 20 May via Southampton. According to Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time
  • at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallaces letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its
  • work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858], that he
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858], he
  • of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of
  • papers at the Linnean Society on 1 July 1858, including a letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him
  • Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest
  • he felt at the severity of some of the attacks. Adam Sedgwicks negative response to  Origin
  • abandoned thetrue method of induction’ ( letter from Adam Sedgwick, 24 November 1859 ). Equally
  • of facts, as the theory seems to me to do.’ ( letter to Adam Sedgwick, 26 November [1859] ). …

Dramatisation script

Summary

Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007

Matches: 19 hits

  • Joseph Dalton Hooker, Jane Loring Gray Louis Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, etcThe punctuation has been
  • Gray, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Hugh Falconer, Louis Agassiz, Adam Sedgwick, A Friend of John Stuart
  • his University) and is much less his own man. A letter from England catches his attention
  • 11   My dear HookerWhat a remarkably nice and kind letter Dr A. Gray has sent me in answer to my
  • be of any the least use to you? If so I would copy itHis letter does strike me as most uncommonly
  • on the geographical distribution of the US plants; and if my letter caused you to do this some year
  • a brace of letters 25   I send enclosed [a letter for you from Asa Gray], received
  • might like to see it; please be sure [to] return it. If your letter is Botanical and has nothing
  • Atlantic. HOOKER:   28   Thanks for your letter and its enclosure from A. Gray which
  • notions of natural Selection and would see whether it or my letter bears any date, I should be very
  • 55   My good dear friend, forgive me. This is a trumpery letter influenced by trumpery feelings. …
  • to arrive at the truth. 68   My dear Professor SedgwickDarwins old tutor, …
  • do a good deal to secure it. Darwin passes Grays letter to Hooker with a cringe. …
  • full relief from all anxiety. Darwin shows Grays letter to Hooker. DARWIN:  …
  • back. JANE GRAY:   189   [Jane Gray. Letter to her sister. Fall, 1868.] Mr Darwin
  • DARWIN:   192   My dear Gray. When I look over your letter[s] … and see all the things you
  • me, and yet was most anxious till two days ago, when I got a letter from him in excellent spirits. …
  • TO L AGASSIZ, 11 NOV 1859 68  C DARWIN TO A SEDGWICK, 11 NOVEMBER 1859 69
  • TO GRAY AT THIS TIME 189 JANE LORING GRAY, LETTER TO HER SISTER, 1868 or 1869

Darwin in letters, 1837–1843: The London years to 'natural selection'

Summary

The seven-year period following Darwin's return to England from the Beagle voyage was one of extraordinary activity and productivity in which he became recognised as a naturalist of outstanding ability, as an author and editor, and as a professional…

Matches: 10 hits

  • … had been spread by the publication by J. S. Henslow and Adam Sedgwick of excerpts from his letters, …
  • … C. Babington; the Chalcididae by Francis Walker; spiders by Adam White; infusoria by C. G. Ehrenberg …
  • … letters have suffered an even more severe loss. In a letter to Lyell’s sister-in-law, Katharine …
  • … of fact . . . on the origin & variation of species” ( Letter to J. S. Henslow, [November 1839] …
  • … that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called the ‘mystery …
  • … about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838 …
  • … just the same, though I know what I am looking for' ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July …
  • … there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • … for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • … notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 128–30). The letter, on ‘Double flowers’ to the  …

Religion

Summary

Design|Personal Belief|Beauty|The Church Perhaps the most notorious realm of controversy over evolution in Darwin's day was religion. The same can be said of the evolution controversy today; however the nature of the disputes and the manner in…

Matches: 22 hits

  • … of departure reviews of Origin . The second is a single letter from naturalist A. R. Wallace to …
  • … everything is the result of “brute force”. Letter 2855 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 3 …
  • … nature, as he is in a “muddle” on this issue. Letter 3256 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • … shares a witty thought experiment about an angel. Letter 3342 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • … He asks Gray some questions about design. Letter 6167 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 8 …
  • … of my precipice”. Darwin and Wallace Letter 5140 — Wallace, A. R. to Darwin, …
  • … of variations. Darwin and Graham Letter 13230 — Darwin, C. R. to Graham, …
  • … of people, including members of his own family. Letter 441 — Wedgwood, Emma to Darwin, …
  • … about his “honest & conscientious doubts”. Letter 471 — Darwin, Emma to Darwin, C. …
  • … there is a danger in giving up revelation”. Letter 2534 — Kingsley, Charles to Darwin, …
  • … need of an act of intervention to bring change. Letter 2548 — Sedgwick, Adam to Darwin, …
  • … with that knowledge which only He can give me.” Letter 5303 — Boole, M. E. to Darwin, C …
  • … that his theory be compatible with her faith. Letter 5307 — Darwin, C. R. to Boole, M. …
  • … and science should each run its own course. Letter 8070 — Darwin, C. R. to Abbot, F. E. …
  • … “with qualifications”, if he wishes. Letter 8837 — Darwin, C. R. to Doedes, N. D., 2 …
  • … man’s intellect, “but man can do his duty”. Letter 12041 — Darwin, C. R. to Fordyce, …
  • … most correct description of my state of mind”. Letter 12757 — Darwin, C. R. to Aveling, …
  • … as examples to illustrate his ideas on beauty. Letter 4752 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, …
  • … discusses humming birds and orchids as examples. Letter 4939 — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
  • … a long discussion on beauty in the natural world. Letter 4943 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …
  • … beauty of flowers is solely to attract insects. Letter 5003f — Shaw, James to Darwin, C …
  • … Beauty against the Duke of Argyll’s criticisms. Letter 5004 — Darwin, C. R. to Shaw, …

Darwin in letters,1870: Human evolution

Summary

The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the year at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’.  Descent was the culmination of over three decades of observations and reflections on…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … shall be a man again & not a horrid grinding machine’  ( letter to Charles Lyell, 25 December …
  • … anything which has happened to me for some weeks’  ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ) …
  • … corrections of style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ) …
  • … who wd ever have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). …
  • … abt any thing so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February …
  • … thro’ apes & savages at the moral sense of mankind’ ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] …
  • … how metaphysics & physics form one great philosophy?’ ( letter from F. P. Cobbe, 28 March [1870 …
  • … in thanks for the drawing ( Correspondence  vol. 16, letter to J. D. Hooker, 26 November [1868] …
  • … patients, but it did not confirm Duchenne’s findings ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March …
  • … muscle’, he complained, ‘is the bane of existence!’ ( letter to William Ogle, 9 November 1870 ). …
  • … to their belief that all demons and spirits were white ( letter from W. W. Reade, 9 November 1870 …
  • … . . Could you make it scream without hurting it much?’ ( letter to A. D. Bartlett, 5 January [1870] …
  • … or crying badly; but I fear he will not succeed’ ( letter to James Crichton-Browne, 8 June [1870] …
  • … Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a baby’s brows ( letter from L. C. Wedgwood, [5 May 1870] ). …
  • … is the inclination to finish my note on this subject’  ( letter from F. C. Donders, 17 May 1870 ). …
  • … the previous year (see  Correspondence  vol. 17, letter to A. R. Wallace, 14 April 1869 ). His …
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • … towards each other, though in one sense rivals’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 20 April [1870] ). …
  • … version of the theory of descent by natural selection in a letter to Darwin, prompting much anxiety …
  • … But who is to criticise them? No one but yourself’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 20 May 1870 ). …
  • … me to be able to say that I  never  write reviews’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, [22 May 1870] ). …
  • … design. Darwin commented on Mivart’s essay in a letter to William Henry Flower: ‘I am glad …
  • … time wd be wasted if I once began to answer objectors’ ( letter to W. H. Flower, 25 March [1870] ) …
  • … laborious & valuable labours on the Primates’ ( letter to St G. J. Mivart, 23 April [1870] ). …
  • … Ape than such an Ape differs from a lump of granite’ ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 22 April 1870 …
  • … his “end” whatever may have been his “origin” ( letter from St G. J. Mivart, 25 April 1870 ). In …
  • … by you in this manner than praised by many others’  ( letter to Armand de Quatrefages, 28 May [1870 …
  • … the Woodwardian Museum with his former professor of geology, Adam Sedgwick. ‘He utterly prostrated …
  • … old man, living in cheerless solitude!’ ( letter from Adam Sedgwick, 30 May 1870 ). Family …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 28 hits

  • … learn that the book was on sale even in railway stations ( letter to Charles Lyell, 14 January …
  • … the book, thinking that it would be nice easy reading.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 22 May [1860] ). …
  • … he told Hooker, did not at all concern his main argument ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] …
  • … his theory would have been ‘ utterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A …
  • … twelve months after its publication make an impressive list. Adam Sedgwick, not surprisingly, …
  • … track, the only track that leads to physical truth’ (Sedgwick 1860) that most wounded Darwin. Having …
  • … to deflect such criticism. ‘I can perfectly understand Sedgwick or any one saying that nat. …
  • … from right principles of scientific investigation.—’ ( letter to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). …
  • … a theory solely by explaining an ample lot of facts.’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 18 February [1860] ). …
  • … phenomena it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] …
  • … natural selection did not necessarily lead to progression ( letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [and 19 …
  • … considered it more a failure than a success ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 February [1860] ). …
  • … naturalists because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). …
  • … two physiologists, and five botanists ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 March [1860] ). Others, like …
  • … tail, whenever I gaze at it, makes me sick!’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ). By the …
  • … favour of change of form’, namely those of embryology ( letter to Asa Gray, 10 September [1860] ). …
  • … his study of the geographical distribution of species ( see letter from T. H. Huxley, 6 August 1860 …
  • … ‘man is in same predicament with other animals’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] )— he …
  • … book had become ‘topics of the day’ at the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • … Darwin ‘master of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other …
  • … that ‘this row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further …
  • … if the whole were already proved) to his own views.—’ ( letter from J. S. Henslow to J. D. Hooker, …
  • … ‘how differently different opposers view the subject’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 15 February [1860] …
  • … studying the first published piece: 'I said in a former letter that you were a Lawyer; but I …
  • … that these visits have led to changed structure.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 27 April [1860] ). …
  • … several months later, ‘just as at a game of chess.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 [July 1860] ). …
  • … substance from non=nitrogenised substances.’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 31 [August 1860] ). Relying …
  • … scarcely be believed without further supporting evidence ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …

Diagrams and drawings in letters

Summary

Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have been added to the online transcripts of the letters. The contents include maps, diagrams, drawings, sketches and photographs, covering geological, botanical,…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … are some of the highlights in chronological order: Adam Sedgwick's report on his …
  • … of germination in Megarrhiza californica , enclosed in a letter from Asa Gray,   4 April 1880 …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 23 hits

  • … that he was ‘unwell & must write briefly’ ( letter to John Scott, 31 May [1863] ), and in a …
  • … persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter-writing dwindled considerably. The …
  • … from ‘some Quadrumanum animal’, as he put it in a letter to J. D. Hooker of 24[–5] February [1863] …
  • … ‘I declare I never in my life read anything grander’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 26 [February 1863] …
  • … than  Origin had (see  Correspondence  vol. 8, letter to Charles Lyell, 10 January [1860] ). …
  • … from animals like the woolly mammoth and cave bear ( see letter from Jacques Boucher de Perthes, 23 …
  • … leap from that of inferior animals made him ‘groan’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … out that species were not separately created’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 17 March [1863] ). Public …
  • … book he wished his one-time mentor had not said a word ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 24[–5] February …
  • … I respect you, as my old honoured guide & master’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 March [1863] ). …
  • … against stronger statements regarding species change ( letter from Charles Lyell, 11 March 1863 ). …
  • … thinking, while Huxley’s book would scare them off ( see letter from Asa Gray, 20 April 1863 ). In …
  • … change of species by descent put him ‘into despair’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 11 May [1863] ). In the …
  • … disaffected towards Lyell and his book. In a February letter to the  Athenæum , a weekly review of …
  • … find great difficulty in answering Owen  unaided ’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … of so much of Lyell’s book being written by others’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, [23 February 1863] …
  • … is wretched to see men fighting so for a little fame’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 March [1863] ). …
  • … overt act, and I shall watch for a fitting opportunity’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] …
  • … God demented Owen, as a punishment for his crimes… ?’ ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January [1863] …
  • … Darwin’, a transitional form between reptiles and birds ( letter from Hugh Falconer, 3 January …
  • … a significant gap had been filled in the fossil record ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 5 [and 6] January …
  • … continued to capture his and others’ attention ( see letter to J. D. Dana, 20 February [1863] , …
  • … council of the Royal Society voted instead for the geologist Adam Sedgwick; Darwin suspected that …

The writing of "Origin"

Summary

From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…

Matches: 23 hits

  • whole has infinitely exceeded my wildest hopes.— (letter to Charles Lyell25 [November
  • to choose from the load of curious facts on record.—’ (letter to W. D. Fox, 31 January [1858] ). …
  • as evidence for what actually occurred in nature (see letter to Asa Gray, 4 April [1858] , and  …
  • throwing away what you have seen,’ he told Hooker in his letter of 8 [June 1858] , ‘yet I have
  • his work was interrupted by the arrival of the now-famous letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, …
  • selection. Darwins shock and dismay is evident in the letter he subsequently wrote to Charles Lyell
  • Even his terms now stand as Heads of my Chapters.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 18 [June 1858] ). …
  • on Charles Lyells endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the
  • McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallaces letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same
  • Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallaces letter even earlier, perhaps as early as 14 May. …
  • of the Peninsular & Oriental Company, and assuming that the letter to Darwin was posted at the
  • 20 May via Southampton. Accordingto Brooks, Darwin kept the letter for a month, during which time he
  • at Down on 18 June. In the absence of Wallaces letter or of any firm evidence for the date of its
  • work, and he shows no sign of anxiety. He says in a letter to Syms Covington, 18 May [1858] , …
  • … ‘There is not least hurry in world about my M.S.’ In his letter to Hooker of 8 June [1858] , he
  • of someone who is distressed, as Darwin clearly was in his letter to Lyell, at the prospect of
  • Society on 1 July 1858. It also includes an unpublished letter from Wallace to Hooker thanking him
  • Darwin was during the days immediately following his letter to Lyell. On 18 June 1858, his eldest
  • abstract of his material would require asmall volume’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] …
  • for the work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice (letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). …
  • he felt at the severity of some of the attacks. Adam Sedgwicks negative response to  Origin
  • abandoned thetrue method of induction’ (letter from Adam Sedgwick, 24 November 1859 ). Equally
  • of facts, as the theory seems to me to do.’ (letter to Adam Sedgwick, 26 November [1859] ). …

John Stevens Henslow

Summary

The letters Darwin exchanged with John Stevens Henslow, professor of Botany and Mineralogy at Cambridge University, were among the most significant of his life. It was a letter from Henslow that brought Darwin the invitation to sail round the world as…

Matches: 2 hits

  • … among the most significant of his life.   It was a letter from Henslow that brought Darwin …
  • … named after him, and began a life-long friendship with Adam Sedgwick, Professor of Geology, who …

Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network

Summary

The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … Government grant was exhausted ( Correspondence  vol. 2, letter to A. Y. Spearman, 9 October 1843, …
  • … are not (it is like confessing a murder) immutable’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [11 January 1844] ). …
  • … the essay of 1844 to read (see  Correspondence  vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 8 [February 1847]) …
  • … of creation , published anonymously in 1844. His old friend Adam Sedgwick attacked the work …
  • … himself: as he told his cousin William Darwin Fox in a letter of [24 April 1845] , he felt he …
  • … Natural selection Perhaps the most interesting letter relating to Darwin’s species theory, …
  • … Darwin not only used his personal notes and records but, by letter, marshalled the resources of …
  • … of the laws of creation, Geographical Distribution’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 February 1845] ) …

Alexander von Humboldt

Summary

The phases of Charles Darwin’s career have often been defined by the books that he read, from Lyell’s Principles of Geology during the Beagle voyage to Malthus’s Essay on the Principle of Population during his London years. The book that encouraged him to…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … Humboldt the ideal role model of a gentleman voyager. Adam Sedgwick advised Darwin that ‘Humboldt’s …
  • … Personal Narrative . Humboldt repaid this compliment with a letter that Darwin prized as much as …
  • … be considered Darwin’s epitaph for his hero, written in a letter to another old voyager the year …

Darwin’s reading notebooks

Summary

In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…

Matches: 21 hits

  • … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds  letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
  • … immortality of Soul. amongst Ancients [Toland 1704] Adam Smith Moral Sentiments [A. Smith …
  • … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34  —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
  • … M rs  Fry’s Life [Fry 1847] Horace Walpoles letter to C t . of Ossory [Walpole 1848] …
  • … Asiatic Society ]—contains very little Macleay’s letter to D r  Fleming [Macleay 1830] …
  • … ] 12. Sedgwicks Discourse on Study of Univers [Sedgwick 1850] 28 Steenstrup on …
  • … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
  • … [R. H. Dana [1840] (good) Bertrams [Trollope 1859] & Adam Bede [Eliot 1859] (excellent) …
  • … of the material from these portfolios is in DAR 205, the letter from William Edward Shuckard to …
  • … ( Notebooks , pp. 319–28). 55  The letter was addressed to Nicholas Aylward Vigors …
  • … to William Jackson Hooker. See  Correspondence  vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 November …
  • … 119: 21b Broughton, William Grant. 1832.  A letter in vindication of   the principles of …
  • … Eliot, George,  pseud . (Marian Evans Cross). 1859.  Adam   Bede . 3 vols. Edinburgh. [Other …
  • … by Bekhur to   Garoo and the Lake Manasarowara: with a letter from … J.   G. Gerard, Esq. …
  • … 1830. On the dying struggle of the dichotomous sytem. In a letter to N. A. Vigors.  Philosophical …
  • … *119: 8v., 22v.; *128: 165 ——. 1850a. Letter to the Rev. John Bachman, on the question of …
  • … art of improving the   breeds of domestic animals. In a letter addressed to the   Right Hon. Sir …
  • … . London. [Darwin Pamphlet Collection.]  119: 1a Sedgwick, Adam. 1850.  A discourse on …
  • …   and conduct.  London.  128: 27 Smith, Adam. 1759.  The theory of moral sentiments. …
  • … 7 vols. (Vol. 7:  Account of the   life and writings of Adam Smith … Account of the life and   …
  • … 1820.  Remarks on the improvement of   cattle, &c. in a letter to Sir John Saunders Sebright, …

Darwin in letters, 1861: Gaining allies

Summary

The year 1861 marked an important change in the direction of Darwin’s work. He had weathered the storm that followed the publication of Origin, and felt cautiously optimistic about the ultimate acceptance of his ideas. The letters from this year provide an…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … will do me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] …
  • … ‘barometer’ of scientific opinion, Charles Lyell ( see letter to Charles Lyell, 20 July [1861] ). …
  • … selection could not be ‘directly proved’ ( see second letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 [April 1861] ). …
  • … was ‘the only one proper to such a subject’ ( letter from Henry Fawcett, 16 July [1861] ). Mill in …
  • … or against some view if it is to be of any service!’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
  • … chapter on the imperfection of the geological record ( see letter to George Maw, 19 July [1861] ). …
  • … he planned to report ‘at a favourable opportunity’ ( letter from Joseph Leidy, 4 March [1861] ). …
  • … laboratory where Nature manufactures her new species’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 28 March [1861] ) …
  • … study of natural history was evident. He told Darwin in his letter of [1 December] 1861: …
  • … by insect enemies from which the other set is free’ ( letter from H. W. Bates, 30 September 1861 ) …
  • … be a ‘very valuable contribution to Nat. History.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 4 April [1861] ). He …
  • … causes &c’, and ‘Monkeys,—our poor cousins.—’ ( letter to H. W. Bates, 3 December [1861] ). …
  • … a view to obtaining ‘large distribution’ for the work ( letter to H. W. Bates, 25 September [1861] …
  • … him on producing ‘a complete and awful smasher’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). Ever …
  • … but he and Owen would ‘never be friends again’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 January [1861] ). …
  • … fully believe a better man never walked this earth’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 [May 1861] ). …
  • … as 1860, Henslow had defended Darwin against criticism from Adam Sedgwick and Richard Owen. Darwin …
  • … could perhaps ‘throw some light on Hybridisation’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 16 September [1861] ). …
  • … the diversity & perfection of the contrivances.–-’ ( letter of [28 July–10 August 1861] ). …
  • … had ‘some direct bearing on the subject of species’ ( letter to Henry Fawcett, 18 September [1861] …
  • … whether I am not doing a foolish action in publishing’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 17 November [1861] …
  • … ‘it is such tedious work comparing skeletons—’ ( letter to Jean Louis Armand de Quatrefage de Bréau …
  • … on the subject had been ‘one long gigantic blunder’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 6 September [1861] …
  • … £800, and would so ‘be at once an almost rich man’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1861] ). The …
  • … of what was thought to be ‘a form of typhus fever’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 11 May 1860 ). This …
  • … to take up his new position. William’s description, in his letter of [17 November 1861], of his …
  • … two or three respectable persons on your own account’ ( letter to W. E. Darwin, 17 [October 1861] …
  • … to see that greatest curse on Earth Slavery abolished’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 5 June [1861] ): …
  • … acceptance of the theories set forth in  Origin  ( see letter to P. L. Sclater, 12 [March 1861] …

Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex

Summary

The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … in satisfying female preference in the mating process. In a letter to Alfred Russel Wallace in 1864, …
  • … of changing the races of man’ (Correspondence vol. 12, letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …
  • … book would take the form of a ‘short essay’ on man ( letter to Ernst Haeckel, 3 July 1868 ). But …
  • … as well say, he would drink a little and not too much’ ( letter to Albert Günther, 15 May [1868] ) …
  • … would be a great loss to the Book’. But Darwin’s angry letter to Murray crossed one from Dallas to …
  • … of labour to remuneration I shall look rather blank’ ( letter from W. S. Dallas, 8 January 1868 ). …
  • … if I try to read a few pages feel fairly nauseated’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 February [1868] ). …
  • … reviews. On 7 August 1868 , he wrote him a lengthy letter from the Isle of Wight on the formation …
  • … would strike me in the face, but not behind my back’ ( letter to John Murray, 25 February [1868] ) …
  • … ignorant article… . It is a disgrace to the paper’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 24 February [1868] …
  • … ‘he is a scamp & I begin to think a veritable ass’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 September [1868] …
  • … wrote of the colour of duck claws on 17 April 1868 . The letter was addressed to ‘the Rev d  C. …
  • … proved very fruitful. On 1 May , Darwin received a letter from George Cupples, who was encouraged …
  • … with the enthusiastic breeder, who apologised in a letter of 11–13 May 1868 for his ‘voluminuous …
  • … of science On 27 February , Darwin sent a letter of thanks to the naturalist and …
  • … he later added, ‘for it is clear that I have none’ ( letter to J. J. Weir, 30 May [1868] ). …
  • … to various classes, a dim ray of light may be gained’ ( letter to H. T. Stainton, 21 February [1868 …
  • … as well as of ‘victorious males getting wives’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 25 February [1868] ). …
  • … of females was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 …
  • … and Coleoptera on 9 September . Darwin annotated a letter sent on 3 April by Henry Doubleday …
  • … for as sure as life he wd find the odour sexual!’ ( letter to A . R. Wallace, 16 September [1868] …
  • … George Robert Crotch, writing to his mother Emma in a letter dated [after 16 October 1868] : ‘I …
  • … box of preparations to papa … I will write a less beetley letter soon.’ Other relations …
  • … present had taken no particular interest in the dyed hen ( letter from Harrison Weir, 28 March 1868 …
  • … in the great question of the “Origin of Species”’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 4 October 1868 ). …
  • … weapon in the hands of the enemies of Nat. Selection’ ( letter from A. R. Wallace, 8 [April] 1868 …
  • … A correspondent of Hooker’s distributed it in Japan ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 5 September 1868 ) …
  • … to Aboriginal mission stations in Victoria, Australia ( letter from R. B. Smyth, 13 August 1868 ); …
  • … clergymen, statesmen, poets, and men of science, including Adam Sedgwick, John Stevens Henslow, and …