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The evolution of honeycomb
Summary
Honeycombs are natural engineering marvels, using the least possible amount of wax to provide the greatest amount of storage space, with the greatest possible structural stability. Darwin recognised that explaining the evolution of the honey-bee’s comb…
Matches: 12 hits
- … book on the species question, Darwin wrote to George Robert Waterhouse. Waterhouse had written the …
- … principles and the proximity of other cells. Darwin’s letter has not been found, but from Waterhouse …
- … were not subject to the space constraints of other cells. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 14 April …
- … diameter being determined by her power of reaching.’ (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 10 February …
- … were exercising their minds on the problem. In his next letter, Waterhouse described wasps’ nests …
- … to begin with only one wasp (the queen) worked on the comb. Waterhouse responded that the wasp …
- … formal constraints as a group of bees working together. (Letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 13 February …
- … Ld. Brougham sneers at it. Meanwhile, Waterhouse was still exercising his mind on the …
- … the other straight sides that were bounded by other cells (letter from G. R. Waterhouse, 17 April …
- … arranged to look at Tegetmeier’s piece of honeycomb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, [21 April 1858] …
- … to keep an eye out for the first beginnings of the comb (letter to W. B. Tegetmeier, 9 May [1858] …
- … has not correctly described their manner of building’ (letter to W. E. Darwin, [26 May 1858] .) …
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
- … 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 …
- … on the practice of systematists. As the correspondence with G. R. Waterhouse during the 1840s shows, …
- … any of the systems of classfication then being employed. Waterhouse was one of Darwin’s closest …
- … 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 …
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
Matches: 9 hits
- … voyage. Darwin expressed his current enthusiasm in a letter to William Darwin Fox, 23 May 1833 ( …
- … was challenged in 1859 by August Krohn. As he admitted in a letter to Charles Lyell, 28 September …
- … (as Darwin called it in his Autobiography and in his letter to Lyell), was more than a matter of …
- … Toward the end of his study of Balanus , in a letter to Hooker on 25 September [1853] ( …
- … latter instrument suited his purposes well; he reported in a letter to Richard Owen, 26 March 1848 …
- … and mounting his specimens is well demonstrated by a letter he wrote to Charles Spence Bate, 13 …
- … Informing Darwin about the award ( Correspondence vol. 5, letter from J. D. Hooker, [4 November …
- … it was empirically invalid ( Calendar nos. 2118 and 2119, letter to T. H. Huxley, 5 July [1857] …
- … ^9^ CD discussed his conception of archetype in a letter to Huxley, 23 April [1853] ( …
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: 23 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] ). …
- … with information and specimens. His old friend George Robert Waterhouse brought him up to date on …
- … 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. Darwin’s 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 Lyell’s endorsement, the editors have dated the letter 18 [June 1858]. However, the …
- … McKinney has suggested that Darwin received Wallace’s letter and manuscript on 3 June 1858, the same …
- … Brooks maintains that Darwin received Wallace’s 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 Wallace’s 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 …
- … of his material would require a ‘small volume’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). …
- … kidney beans’, to the Gardeners’ Chronicle (see letter to Gardeners’ Chronicle, [before 13 …
- … for the work. Again, he called upon Lyell for advice ( letter to Charles Lyell, 28 March [1859] ). …
The "wicked book": Origin at 157
Summary
Origin is 157 years old. (Probably) the most famous book in science was published on 24 November 1859. To celebrate we have uploaded hundreds of new images of letters, bringing the total number you can look at here to over 9000 representing more than…
Matches: 0 hits
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: 11 hits
- … [Reimarius 1760] The Highlands & Western Isl ds letter to Sir W Scott [MacCulloch 1824 …
- … 1834–40]: In Portfolio of “abstracts” 34 —letter from Skuckard of books on Silk Worm …
- … Palæontologie M. Pictet [Pictet 1844–5]— Forbes?? Waterhouse has it— 1844— read …
- … [Selby 1836]. 26. Honey Bees [Jardine ed. 1840]. Waterhouse has it??? Jacintes ( Des …
- … 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] …
- … [Heer 1854].— Hooker has it.— Very important Hookers letter Jan. 1859 Yules Ava [Yule 1858] …
- … 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 …