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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: 5 hits
- … Darwin had sent the manuscript to the publisher in February 1867, and had spent a good deal of that …
- … Record. Dallas had begun the work in November 1867 and had expected to complete it in a fortnight. …
- … was remarked upon by other entomologists ( letter from Roland Trimen, 20 February 1868 , and …
- … emotional expression. His questionnaire, first sent out in 1867, was circulated to remote parts of …
- … ‘merely a modified, hardly an improved, Gorilla’ ( to Roland Trimen, 14 April [1868] ). …
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Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Variation under domestication, neared completion in 1867, that he systematically sought more …
- … George Thwaites, Robert Swinhoe, John Jenner Weir, and Roland Trimen, attempting to establish just …
- … Typical is his query to Fritz Müller in February 1867 : Do you know of any lowly …
- … as an argument in favour of Divine creation (Campbell 1867, pp. 203–4). Brent gave it as his …
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Descent
Summary
There are more than five hundred letters associated with the research and writing of Darwin’s book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (Descent). They trace not only the tortuous route to eventual publication, but the development of Darwin’s…
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Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 3 hits
- … Jenkin. Darwin had been very impressed by Jenkin’s 1867 review, which argued that any variation in …
- … male and female fish, reptiles, and amphibians, while Roland Trimen in South Africa and John Jenner …
- … on the previous German edition (Bronn and Carus trans. 1867), as well as on the German translation …
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Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
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Darwin in letters, 1865: Delays and disappointments
Summary
The year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend and supporter; Robert FitzRoy, captain of the Beagle; and William Jackson Hooker, director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and father of Darwin’s friend…