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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, …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
Matches: 4 hits
- … This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and …
- … career, to the eve of publication of Descent of Man in 1871. In this period Darwin became a …
- … know you have been miserably uncomfortable. Emma to Charles Darwin, 1861. …
- … think about the derivation of Species … Darwin to Charles Lyell, 1863. …
Language: key letters
Summary
How and why language evolved bears on larger questions about the evolution of the human species, and the relationship between man and animals. Darwin presented his views on the development of human speech from animal sounds in The Descent of Man (1871),…
Matches: 3 hits
Rewriting Origin - the later editions
Summary
For such an iconic work, the text of Origin was far from static. It was a living thing that Darwin continued to shape for the rest of his life, refining his ‘one long argument’ through a further five English editions. Many of his changes were made in…
Matches: 8 hits
- … up each edition to the existing standard of science’ ( to Charles Layton, 24 November [1869] ). …
- … expansion ‘in many places’ . Chief among these was Charles Lyell, instrumental in shaping both …
- … last one was a welcome endorsement from the religious author Charles Kingsley, a chaplain to the …
- … Black Pigs in the Everglades delights me If Lyell was Darwin’s key correspondent for …
- … (With a glossary of scientific terms??) by Charles Darwin F.R.S. …
- … many of his old friends and former correspondents, including Lyell ( now approached through his …
- … die. Thomas Henry Huxley, 28 September 1871 Geographical …
- … ed. , pp. 450–61). Despite continuing scepticism from Charles Lyell, who was staying with the …
Dramatisation script
Summary
Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by Craig Baxter – as performed 25 March 2007
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- … 1 Re: Design – Adaptation of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin, Asa Gray and others… by …
- … from the correspondence or published writings of Asa Gray, Charles Darwin, Joseph Dalton Hooker, …
- … following: Actor 1 – Asa Gray Actor 2 – Charles Darwin Actor 3 – In the dress …
- … the botanist, Joseph D Hooker GRAY: 3 Charles Darwin… made his home on the border …
- … the year 1839, and copied and communicated to Messrs Lyell and Hooker in 1844, being a …
- … at the expense of Agassiz. DARWIN: 20 Lyell told me, that Agassiz, having a …
- … – to be false… Yours most sincerely and gratefully Charles Darwin. CREED AND FEVER: 1858 …
- … forgetfuless of your darling. BOOKS BY THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN: 1863-1865 In which …
- … and officially die. And then publish books ‘by the late Charles Darwin’. Darwin takes up …
- … 173 Ever yours cordially (though an Englishman) Charles Darwin. GRAY: 174 …
- … at an unexpected and probably transient notoriety… Charles Darwin died on the 19th April …
- … GRAY TO JD HOOKER, 18 FEBRUARY 1861 115 A GRAY TO CHARLES WRIGHT, 17 APRIL 1862 …
- … TO ASA GRAY 20 APRIL 1863 174 FROM A GRAY TO CHARLES DARWIN, 24 JULY 1865 …
- … HOOKER, 3 JULY 1873 198 TO A GRAY 5 FEBRUARY [1871] 199 A GRAY TO C …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 9 hits
- … at Erasmus’s house. The event was led by the medium Charles E. Williams, and was attended by George …
- … friend Joseph Dalton Hooker, and finally borrowed one from Charles Lyell ( letter to Smith, Elder …
- … at a much reduced price of nine shillings, in line with Charles Lyell’s Student’s elements of …
- … fourth son, Leonard, who had joined the Royal Engineers in 1871, went to New Zealand as photographer …
- … raising £860 ( Circular to John Lubbock, P. L. Sclater, Charles Lyell, W. B. Carpenter, and Michael …
- … Sharpe, 24 November [1874] ). He wrote in admiration of Charles Lyell’s plan to leave a bequest to …
- … of the English editions. Darwin’s French publisher, Charles Reinwald, engaged new translators to …
- … connotations of both Huxley’s and Tyndall’s addresses, Charles Lyell, who had spent his career …
- … may be fairly said to have had an ovation’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 ). …
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: 7 hits
- … Letter 2575 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [10 Dec 1859] Darwin discusses with King' …
- … Darwin and his close friends, Joseph Dalton Hooker and Charles Lyell, show that Darwin, who had …
- … at the Linnean Society of London, and presided over by Lyell and Hooker, reveals much about the …
- … differences. Letter 2285 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 18 [June 1858] Darwin …
- … it to journal. Letter 2294 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, [25 June 1858] …
- … wrote to him. Letter 2295 — Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, Charles, 26 [June 1858] Darwin …
- … of case. Letter 2299 — Hooker, J. D. & Lyell, Charles to Linnean Society, 30 June …
Darwin's bad days
Summary
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well illustrated by the following quotations from his letters:
Matches: 1 hits
- … Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and …
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: 4 hits
- … proofs of Descent in December, he wrote to his friend Charles Lyell, ‘thank all the powers above …
- … essays (later revised as Genesis of species (Mivart 1871)), Mivart tried to carve out a position …
- … in Paris. Quatrefages had just completed a book, Charles Darwin et ses précurseurs français …
- … Bruce, about the possibility of inserting a question in the 1871 census about cousin marriage. …
Darwin in letters, 1882: Nothing too great or too small
Summary
In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and for the first time in decades he was not working on another book. He remained active in botanical research, however. Building on his recent studies in plant…
Matches: 16 hits
- … to take his daily strolls (Henrietta Emma Litchfield, ‘Charles Darwin’s death’, DAR 262.23: 2, p. 2) …
- … snakes, centipedes, and spiders. The instructions were from Charles Lawrence Hughes, a fellow pupil …
- … Holland, she mentions his warm reception on arrival: ‘Charles is as well as possible & in gayer …
- … recommendations for annual medals. He strongly supported Charles Lyell for the Copley, the Royal …
- … that the future Historian of the Natural Sciences, will rank Lyell’s labours as more influential in …
- … point of view I think no man ranks in the same class with Lyell’ ( letter to William Sharpey, 22 …
- … November [1864] ). Writing to the clergyman and naturalist Charles Kingsley, he was more gloomy: …
- … men whom I should have liked to have known’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 2 June [1865] ). …
- … curious to read what you will say on Man & his Races’, Lyell wrote. ‘It was not a theme to be …
- … theory for the whole of the organic world ( letter from Charles Lyell, 16 July 1867 ). In the same …
- … and I must not make you my father confessor. ( Letter from Charles Lyell, 1 September 1874 .) …
- … steps’ ( letter to Alexander Agassiz, 28 August [1871] ; see also Correspondence vol. 19, …
- … names to appear’ ( letter to Louisa Stevenson, 8 April 1871 ). It was Darwin’s name that was …
- … who had undertaken observations years earlier. In 1871, he had asked Henry Johnson to observe the …
- … vol. 19, letter to Henry Johnson, 23 December 1871 , and Earthworms , pp. 221–8). Darwin …
- … complete With volume 30, the Correspondence of Charles Darwin is now complete. In the …
Darwin in letters, 1867: A civilised dispute
Summary
Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large work, The variation of animals and plants under domestication (Variation). The importance of Darwin’s network of correspondents becomes vividly apparent in his work on expression in…
Matches: 13 hits
- … Charles Darwin’s major achievement in 1867 was the completion of his large …
- … selection in relation to sex ( Descent ), published in 1871, and the chapter on expression into …
- … of Argyll, and an anonymous review by an engineer, Henry Charles Fleeming Jenkin, challenged …
- … hypothesis of pangenesis’. Such was the case, reported by Charles Victor Naudin, of a fan palm, …
- … anxious about the reception of pangenesis. He was happy that Charles Lyell had a positive response, …
- … will be a somewhat important step in Biology’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 22 August [1867] ). …
- … on the anatomy of expression by medical experts such as Charles Bell and Guillaume Benjamin Amand …
- … and ‘clever’, but with certain weak parts ( letter to Charles Lyell, 1 June [1867] ). Charles …
- … as one who feels himself likely to be beat’ ( letter from Charles Kingsley, 6 June 1867 ). Darwin …
- … c d hardly come into a scientific book’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
- … the most telling Reviews of the hostile kind’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
- … & botany, before writing about them’ ( letter from Charles Kingsley, 6 June 1867 ). The …
- … than those with beaks shorter than average’ ( letter to Charles Kingsley, 10 June [1867] ). …
Darwin on race and gender
Summary
Darwin’s views on race and gender are intertwined, and mingled also with those of class. In Descent of man, he tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a single theory: sexual selection. Sexual…
Referencing women’s work
Summary
Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but whether and how they were acknowledged in print involved complex considerations of social standing, professional standing, and personal preference.…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 7428 - Wedgwood, F. to Darwin, [4 January 1871] Darwin’s brother-in-law, …
Julia Wedgwood
Summary
Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated Victorian men, nonetheless, some women did read, review, and respond to Darwin’s work. One of these women was Darwin’s own niece, Julia Wedgwood, known in the family as “Snow”. In July…
Matches: 5 hits
- … Though Charles Darwin’s readership largely consisted of other well-educated …
- … brilliance of her teachers and the proximity of her uncle Charles Darwin, she ought, she said, “to …
- … and that I find a very rare event with my critics”. ( Charles Darwin to F. J. Wedgwood, 11 July …
- … The Descent of Man in the Spectator on 18 March 1871 was one of two that caught his eye, …
- … significance of sexual selection] with approbation.” ( Charles and Emma Darwin to F. J. Wedgwood, …
Women’s scientific participation
Summary
Observers | Fieldwork | Experimentation | Editors and critics | Assistants Darwin’s correspondence helps bring to light a community of women who participated, often actively and routinely, in the nineteenth-century scientific community. Here is a…
Matches: 7 hits
- … 9 November 1868] Darwin’s nephews, Edmund and Charles, write to Emma Darwin’s sister, …
- … the Isle of White. Letter 4433 - Wright, Charles to Gray, A., [20, 25, 26 March …
- … Letter 7433 - Wedgwood, F. to Darwin, [9 January 1871] Darwin’s brother-in-law, …
- … Letter 8113 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [20 December 1871] Mary Treat describes her …
- … Letter 7605 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [20 March 1871] Darwin reports to …
- … Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that …
- … 8089 - Darwin to Litc hfield, H. E., [2 December 1871] Darwin sends a chapter on …
Race, Civilization, and Progress
Summary
Darwin's first reflections on human progress were prompted by his experiences in the slave-owning colony of Brazil, and by his encounters with the Yahgan peoples of Tierra del Fuego. Harsh conditions, privation, poor climate, bondage and servitude,…
Matches: 8 hits
- … an inward force or directed by design, while others such as Charles Lyell and Alfred Russel Wallace …
- … the first sight of Man in his primitive wildness." Charles wrote to his sister, Emily …
- … , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a letter to Charles Lyell, insisting that there was no …
- … would be no advance.— " Letter 6728 : from Charles Lyell, 5 May 1869 " …
- … for existence between human races with the geologist Charles Lyell, the liberal Anglican clergymen …
- … exterminated." Letter 3439 : Darwin to Kingsley, Charles, 6 February [1862] …
- … Selected Readings Primary Charles Darwin, Notebooks, B 18-29; E 95-7 [ …
- … [ available at archive.org ] and Primitive Culture (1871) [ available at archive.org ] …
John Lubbock
Summary
John Lubbock was eight years old when the Darwins moved into the neighbouring property of Down House, Down, Kent; the total of one hundred and seventy surviving letters he went on to exchange with Darwin is a large number considering that the two men lived…
Matches: 3 hits
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…
Matches: 6 hits
- … written around the time of the publication of Descent in 1871 and appear in a clipping from an …
- … ’ Descent was published in two volumes in 1871, yet as late as the summer of 1868 …
- … concealed it . Just weeks after publication he wrote to Charles Lyell, ‘ I show that I believe man …
- … is in fact impossible to doubt it ’. At the time, Lyell was himself writing about human …
- … ’ Descent was published on 24 February 1871, sold out, and was rushed into a second …
- … to, Descent , see Darwin’s Life in Letters: 1871 . …
John Murray
Summary
Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was published on 22 November 1859. The publisher was John Murray, who specialised in non-fiction, particularly politics, travel and science, and had published…
Matches: 9 hits
- … terms ( Letter 856 ). Instead he asked his friend Charles Lyell, whose Principles of geology …
- … open negotiations with his own publisher ( Letter 824 ). Lyell’s talk with Murray must have been …
- … Letter 908 ). Thus began the business relationship between Charles Darwin and John Murray. …
- … In order to ensure Darwin’s priority, his friends Charles Lyell and Joseph Hooker hastily arranged …
- … by means of natural selection (Origin) . Again he asked Lyell to act as his intermediary with John …
- … Murray made a successful business decision when he included Charles Darwin among his authors and …
- … geology was his favourite hobby and he continued to publish Charles Lyell’s books he was not himself …
- … ‘I hope to Heaven book will sell well’ (12 January [1871] Letter 7438 ). A second printing was …
- … planning a third ( Letter 7604 ). In the summer of 1871, Darwin decided to publish on …
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…
Matches: 13 hits
- … On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July …
- … of Dimorphism’ in Menyanthes ( letter from Emma and Charles Darwin to W. E. Darwin, [20 May …
- … and animal-breeders. As in earlier years, Darwin consulted Charles William Crocker about his …
- … curators at a great distance. Gray forwarded a letter from Charles Wright, a plant collector in Cuba …
- … Hugh Falconer, 3 November 186[4] ). The French botanist, Charles Victor Naudin, wrote a gracious …
- … using such a periodical to defend himself, Hooker and Lyell discouraged him, and he decided to avoid …
- … when Colenso was in England in 1864, socialising with Charles Lyell and other members of the London …
- … again, to Ramsay’s view for third or fourth time; but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the …
- … Huxley’s Evidence as to man’s place in nature and Lyell’s Antiquity of man , and that the …
- … [May 1864] ). He added that he wished Wallace had written Lyell’s section on humans in Antiquity …
- … of man , and selection in relation to sex ( Descent ) in 1871. Along with other publications in …
- … have been particularly heartened when his former mentor, Lyell, congratulated him by saying that ‘an …
- … of moral courage which is so small still’ ( letter from Charles Lyell, 4 November 1864 ); in …
