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Scientific Networks

Summary

Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…

Matches: 16 hits

  • and colonial authorities. In the nineteenth-century, letter writing was one of the most important
  • Other contacts such as William Bernard Tegetmeier and George Frederick Cupples, introduced him to
  • in times of uncertainty, controversy, or personal loss. Letter writing was not only a means of
  • botanist Asa Gray. Darwin and Hooker Letter 714Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • and he is curious about Hookers thoughts. Letter 729Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D., …
  • to Hookerit is like confessing a murder”. Letter 736Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D. …
  • wide-ranging genera. Darwin and Gray Letter 1674Darwin, C. R. to Gray, …
  • and asks him to append the ranges of the species. Letter 1685Gray, Asa to Darwin, C. …
  • and relationships of alpine flora in the USA. Letter 2125Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, …
  • and their approach to information exchange. Letter 1202Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. D
  • first describers name to specific name. Letter 1220Hooker, J. D. to Darwin, C. R., …
  • perpetuity of names in species descriptions. Letter 1260Darwin, C. R. to Hooker, J. …
  • Mentors Darwin's close relationship with John Stevens Henslow, the professor of botany
  • Mentors This collection of letters documents Henslows mentoring while Darwin was on the
  • mail to Montevideo. He talks of being a sort of Protégé of Henslows and it is Henslowsbounden
  • of his notes on the specimens. Letter 249Henslow, J. S. to Darwin, C. R., 22 July

Insectivorous Plants

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Plants that consume insects Darwin began his work with insectivorous plants in the mid 1860s, though his findings would not be published until 1875. In his autobiography Darwin reflected on the delay that…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … and executing some of the key experiments. Darwin's sons George and Francis helped him with …
  • … Murray. Chapters 17 and 18 Letters Letter Packet: Insectivorous Plants …
  • … Scott's objection to Natural Selection. Letter 2951 - Charles Darwin to Daniel …
  • … ammonia as a substitute for flies on Drosera . Letter 2932 - Charles Darwin to J.S. …
  • … teacher during Darwin's students days at Cambridge. In this letter Darwin asks Henslow whether …
  • … the Drosera is a known or common phenomenon. Letter 8113 - Mary Treat to Charles …
  • … observations in gratitude for Darwin's own work. Letter 9005 - Charles Darwin to …
  • … of utricularia expressed by  Mary Treat  in an 1874  letter  to Charles Darwin: I …

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: 16 hits

  • … he had witnessed man in his most "primitive wildness" ( letter to Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … mentor, the professor of botany at Cambridge, John Stevens Henslow. Letter 204 : …
  • … 1833 which took effect in the following year. Letter 206 : Darwin to Darwin, E. C., 22 …
  • … of the polygenist theory of human descent. Letter 4933 : Farrar, F. W. to Darwin, …
  • … about the state of civilization of the natives. Letter 5617 , Darwin to Weale, J. P. M …
  • … wonderful fact in the progress of civilization" Letter 5722 , Weale, J. P. M. to …
  • … of Species , Darwin discussed his views on progress in a letter to Charles Lyell, insisting that …
  • … of life" ( Origin , 6 th ed, p. 98). Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C …
  • … not profit it, there would be no advance.— " Letter 6728 : from Charles Lyell, 5 …
  • … but may guide the forces & laws of Nature." Letter 6866 : From Federico Delpino …
  • … in this inner principle, inborn in all things." Letter 8658 : to Alpheus Hyatt, 4 …
  • … Wallace, and the philosopher William Graham. Letter 2503 : Darwin, C. R. to Lyell, C., …
  • … the less intellectual races being exterminated." Letter 3439 : Darwin to Kingsley, …
  • … race, viewed as a unit, will have risen in rank." Letter 4510 : Darwin to Wallace, …
  • … entirely on intellectual & moral qualities. Letter 13230 : Darwin to Graham, …
  • … as Anthropologist. Cambridge University Press 1989. George Stocking, George. Race, Culture, …

Edward Lumb

Summary

Edward Lumb was born in Yorkshire. According to the memoirs of his daughter Anne, Lady Macdonell, he travelled to Buenos Aires aged sixteen with his merchant uncle, Charles Poynton, and after some fortunate enterprises set up in business there. In 1833…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … Mrs Lumb’s sister Mary Yates (1802/3–72) had married George Keen (1794–1884), a sheep farmer with …
  • … from Mr Keen had been sent on their way to England, since Henslow was eager that every scrap be …
  • … correspondence after Darwin’s return to England, since a letter of 1847 refers to information …
  • … , and there met Mr Blackmore who had just received a letter from Mr Lumb. Lady Macdonell recorded …

George James Stebbing

Summary

George James Stebbing (1803—1860) travelled around the world with Charles Darwin on board HMS Beagle and helped him with measuring temperature on at least one occasion. However, Stebbing barely registers in Darwin’s correspondence. The only mention omits…

Matches: 4 hits

  • George James Stebbing (1803—1860) travelled around the world with Charles …
  • … even his name, when Darwin told Alexander von Humboldt, in a letter of 1 November 1839, that he had …
  • … competition with his father, the scientific instrument maker George Stebbing (1774—1847). By 1843, …
  • … II.  London: Henry Colburn. Holland, Julian. 2013. 'George James Stebbing: Captain …

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: 23 hits

  • Observers Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August
  • silkworm breeds, or peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to
  • observations of catsinstinctive behaviour. Letter 4258 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, …
  • to artificially fertilise plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to
  • be made on seeds of Pulmonaria officinalis . Letter 5745 - Barber, M. E. to
  • Expression from her home in South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L
  • Expression during a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., …
  • expression of emotion in her pet dog and birds. Letter 5817 - Darwin to Huxley, T. …
  • is making similar observations for him. Letter 6535 - Vaughan Williams , M. S. …
  • of a crying baby to Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, …
  • briefly on her ongoing observations of wormholes. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. …
  • birds, insects or plants on Darwins behalf. Letter 8683 - Roberts, D. to
  • of an angry pig and her nieces ears. Letter 8701 - Lubbock, E. F . to Darwin, …
  • that she make observations of her pet cats. Letter 8989 - Treat, M. to Darwin, [28
  • on her experiments with fly-catching Drosera . Letter 9426 - Story
  • without the birds attacking the buds and flowers. Letter 9616 - Marshall, T. to
  • and her father of plants and insects. Men: Letter 2221 - Blyth, E. to Darwin
  • Asa Gray about the observations of orchids made by his son, George. He details Georges findings and
  • to look for more samples. Letter 4928  - Henslow, G. to Darwin, [11 November 1865] …
  • Men: Letter 378  - Darwin to Henslow, J. S., [20 September 1837] Darwin
  • the second edition of  Descent  to Darwin's son George. The work is tedious and Wallace
  • editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will
  • editing the second edition of  Descent  to his son, George. Darwin warns George that it will

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: 29 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 beenutterly  smashed’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). (A
  • 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
  • Lyell are some of the most fascinating in the volume. George Henry Kendrick Thwaites
  • 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 becometopics of the dayat the meeting in a letter from Hooker written from Oxford. …
  • Darwinmaster of the field after 4 hours battle’ (letter from J. D. Hooker, 2 July 1860). Other
  • thatthis row is best thing for subject.—’ ( letter to T. H. Huxley, 3 July [1860] ). Further
  • …  rather than against Darwins book per se . Prodded by Henslows defence of the integrity of
  • 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
  • … ‘how much better fun observing is than writing.—’ ( letter to Charles Lyell, 12 September [1860] ) …
  • hope & think I shall improve the Book considerably.—’ ( letter to John Murray, 5 December [1860

Darwin in letters, 1871: An emptying nest

Summary

The year 1871 was an extremely busy and productive one for Darwin, with the publication in February of his long-awaited book on human evolution, Descent of man. The other main preoccupation of the year was the preparation of his manuscript on expression.…

Matches: 24 hits

  • … do to talk about it, which no doubt promotes the sale’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 26 March 1871 ) …
  • … to her liking, ‘to keep in memory of the book’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, 20 March 1871 ). …
  • … and had forsaken his lunch and dinner in order to read it ( letter from James Crichton-Browne, 19 …
  • … they believe to be the truth, whether pleasant or not’ (letter from W. W. Reade, 21 February 1871). …
  • … and Oldham … They club together to buy them’ ( letter from W. B. Dawkins, 23 February 1871 ). …
  • … one’s n th . ancestor lived between tide-marks!’ ( letter from T. H. Huxley, 20 February 1871 ). …
  • … habits, furnished with a tail and pointed ears”  (letter from Asa Gray, 14 April 1871) …
  • … ‘will-power’ and the heavy use of their arms and legs ( letter from C. L. Bernays, 25 February 1871 …
  • … in order to make it darker than the hair on his head ( letter from W. B. Tegetmeier, [before 25 …
  • … together with an image of an orang-utan foetus ( letter from Hinrich Nitsche, 18 April 1871 ). …
  • … of himself, adding that it made a ‘very poor return’ ( letter to Hinrich Nitsche, 25 April [1871] …
  • … each night, returning to its allotted space each morning ( letter from Arthur Nicols, 7 March 1871 …
  • … without having a high aesthetic appreciation of beauty ( letter from E. J. Pfeiffer, [before 26 …
  • … endowment of spiritual life’ at some time in the past ( letter from Roland Trimen, 17 and 18 April …
  • … to the white’. Darwin thanked Innes for his ‘pleasant letter’, but asserted his antipathy to human …
  • … myself a good way ahead of you, as far as this goes’ ( letter to J. B. Innes, 29 May [1871] ). …
  • … theory on purely religious grounds. The Christian publisher George Morrish urged Darwin to rest the …
  • … ‘whereas the baboon is as the Creator made it’ ( letter from George Morrish, 18 March 1871 ). …
  • … could also redeem the wayward author of  Descent  ( letter from a child of God, [after 24 …
  • … 20 August 1871 ). The Anglican clergyman and naturalist George Henslow reported that he had been …
  • … of utilitarianism to assist his father in answering Morley. George and Henrietta remarked upon his …
  • … far the most vexing critic for Darwin was the zoologist St George Jackson Mivart. An expert on …
  • … Alexander Agassiz, Abraham Dee Bartlett, Albert Günther, George Busk, T. H. Huxley, Osbert Salvin, …
  • … December 1871] ). Francis was now studying medicine at St George’s Hospital in London, although he …

1.3 Thomas Herbert Maguire, lithograph

Summary

< Back to Introduction This striking portrait of Darwin, dating from 1849, belonged to a series of about sixty lithographic portraits of naturalists and other scientists drawn by Thomas Herbert Maguire. They were successively commissioned over a…

Matches: 12 hits

  • over a period of about five years, c. 18481852, by George Ransome, offspring of a Quaker family of
  • founding and financing of this museum in 18461847, and George Ransome became its Honorary Secretary
  • as its first president, and his friend Revd John Stevens HenslowDarwins Cambridge mentoras
  • Ipswich project partly stemmed from a sense of obligation to Henslow. Occurring before the
  • embarrassment or difficulty on religious grounds. In return, Henslow persuaded Ransome to give
  • including Murchison, Yarrell, Gould, and Jardine as well as Henslow and Kirby. According to a report
  • was expanded further still, again through the activities of George Ransome. His ambitions for the
  • celebrations, he too became a patron of the Museum, and Henslow presented him with a bound set of
  • photographic prints. Darwin thought that the portrait of Henslow wasvery like, but I am not quite
  • self-conscious and awkward in his pose. Darwin told Henslow, ‘My wife says she never saw me with the
  • of Honorary Members of the Ipswich Museum. Published by George Ransome, F.L.S., Honorary Secretary’, …
  • Electrical Engineers, 19912012), vol. 4, pp. 305306, letter 2433. Report onBritish Association

Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life

Summary

1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time.  And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth.  All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…

Matches: 26 hits

  • … ‘my wife … poor creature, has won only 2490 games’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876 ). …
  • … suffered a serious concussion from a riding accident, and George Darwin’s ill-health grew worse, …
  • … quantity of work’ left in him for ‘new matter’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). The …
  • … to a reprint of the second edition of Climbing plants ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 23 February …
  • … & I for blundering’, he cheerfully observed to Carus. ( Letter to J. V. Carus, 24 April 1876. …
  • … provided evidence for the ‘advantages of crossing’ (letter to Asa Gray, 28 January 1876). Revising …
  • … year to write about his life ( Correspondence vol. 23, letter from Ernst von Hesse-Wartegg, 20 …
  • … nowadays is evolution and it is the correct one’ ( letter from Nemo, [1876?] ). …
  • … ignore the accusation made by the comparative anatomist St George Jackson Mivart in his Lessons …
  • … him ‘basely’ and who had succeeded in giving him pain ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 17 June 1876 ). …
  • … down completely until Mivart made a slanderous attack on George Darwin in late 1874 in an anonymous …
  • … fearful that Mivart still had the capacity to damage George’s reputation. ‘I care little about …
  • … disgrace’ of blackballing so distinguished a zoologist ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 29 January 1876 ) …
  • … must have been cast by the ‘poorest curs in London’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, [4 February …
  • … the Vivisec. Commissions recommendation this bill is’, George Darwin declared to his father on 31 …
  • … Burdon Sanderson was keen for the society’s secretary, George Romanes, to write articles for the …
  • … her questions were ‘too silly to deserve an answer’ ( letter from S. B. Herrick, 12 February 1876 …
  • … on Dionaea ‘to test the insect eating theory’ ( letter from Peter Henderson, 15 November 1876 …
  • … sending Darwin small amendments to his results ( letter from Moritz Schiff, 8 May 1876 ). …
  • … to get positive results in this year’s experiments’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, [ c . 19 March …
  • … in the Encyclopaedia Britannica the previous year ( letter to G. H. Darwin, [after 4 September …
  • … is a good lesson which will last for my life’, he told George Stokes, secretary of the society, on …
  • … Horace, however, who was the first to type a letter, telling George on 1 May (in the only script the …
  • … been Darwin’s strong point, and he was reliant on his son George and cousin Francis Galton for the …
  • … research. He revelled in the praise heaped on Francis by George Henry Lewes for an article on the …
  • … December 1876 ). In England, the clergyman botanist George Henslow, son of John Stevens Henslow, …

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: 17 hits

  • findings had been spread by the publication by J. S. Henslow and Adam Sedgwick of excerpts from his
  • results of the  Beagle  voyage. With the help of J. S. Henslow, William Whewell, and other
  • neglected. During the voyage Darwin had expected that J. S. Henslow would describe his botanical
  • the other on the Keeling Island flora. Darwins letters to Henslow show a gradual realisation that
  • knowledge of plant distribution and classification (see Henslow 1837a and 1838; W. J. Hooker and G. …
  • 1845, 1846, 18535, and 1860). In 1980, two notebooks in Henslows hand were discovered that contain
  • letters have suffered an even more severe loss. In a letter to Lyells sister-in-law, Katharine
  • The letters show that at least five of his friendsLyell, Henslow, Jenyns, Waterhouse, and his
  • that he had a sound solution to what J. F. W. Herschel in a letter to Lyell had called themystery
  • about searching for evidence to support his hypothesis. In a letter to Lyell, [14] September [1838
  • mainly on literature in this field and on friends like Henslow, T. C. Eyton, and W. D. Fox, who were
  • just the same, though I know what I am looking for&#039; ( Letter to G. R. Waterhouse, [26 July
  • taxa as they were worked out at the time. As the late George Gaylord Simpson pointed out: ‘What
  • there were no doubts as to how one ought to act’ ( Letter from Emma Darwin, [  c.  February 1839] …
  • sometimes months, at a time. In September 1837 he told Henslow that doctors had recommended that he
  • for several months (See  Correspondence  vol. 1, letter to Caroline Darwin, 13 October 1834 , …
  • notebook). See also Allan 1977, pp. 12830). The letter, onDouble flowersto the  …

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: 28 hits

  • … will do me & Natural Selection, right good service’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 26–7 Februrary [1861] …
  • … review published in the July issue of the  Zoologist  by George Maw, for example, singled out …
  • … ‘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] ). …
  • … 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 …
  • … advanced from his inheritance. Negotiations with the banker George Atherley, partner in 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] …

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: 25 hits

  • … ‘I feel a very old man, & my course is nearly run’ ( letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 ) …
  • … fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 January 1882 …
  • … respectively. In January, Darwin corresponded with George John Romanes about new varieties of …
  • … François Marie Glaziou (see Correspondence vol. 28, letter from Arthur de Souza Corrêa, 20 …
  • … quite untirable & I am glad to shirk any extra labour’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 6 January …
  • … probably intending to test its effects on chlorophyll ( letter to Joseph Fayrer, 30 March 1882 ). …
  • … we know about the life of any one plant or animal!’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). He …
  • … of seeing the flowers & experimentising on them’ ( letter to J. E. Todd, 10 April 1882 ). …
  • … find stooping over the microscope affects my heart’ ( letter to Henry Groves, 3 April 1882 ). …
  • … sooner or later write differently about evolution’ ( letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 ). The …
  • … leaves into their burrows ( Correspondence vol. 29, letter from J. F. Simpson, 8 November 1881 …
  • … on the summit, whence it rolls down the sides’ ( letter from J. F. Simpson, 7 January 1882 ). The …
  • … light on it, which would have pleased me greatly’ ( letter from J. H. Gilbert, 9 January 1882, …
  • … This was confirmed by one of his correspondents. A clerk, George Frederick Crawte, recounted a …
  • … transit of Venus on an expedition to Queensland, Australia. George’s recent work had been highly …
  • … Robert Stawell Ball that was printed in Nature declared George ‘the discoverer of tidal …
  • … the great judges think highly of the work … I believe that George will some day be a great …
  • … family and close friends grew worried. Letters were sent to George, who was soon to return from …
  • … 3 April 1882 ). He sent a cheque for a memorial to the late George Rolleston ( letter to H. N. …
  • … carried him off the next day. Henrietta immediately wrote to George, who had visited Down on 11 …
  • … a rare declaration on the origins of life to the chemist George Warington, who was keen to reconcile …
  • … to remain each man’s private property’ ( letter to George Warington, 11 October [1867] ). …
  • … One of Darwin’s other great loves, dogs, was indulged by George Cupples, a writer and experienced …
  • … can assure you, we will all make much of him’ ( letter to George Cupples, 20 September [1870] ). …
  • … was used by Darwin against his most aggressive critic, St George Jackson Mivart, who claimed that …

Climbing plants

Summary

Darwin’s book Climbing plants was published in 1865, but its gestation began much earlier. The start of Darwin’s work on the topic lay in his need, owing to severe bouts of illness in himself and his family, for diversions away from his much harder book on…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … & do not find that it is known, I will perhaps write a letter to you for the  chance  of its …
  • … overwhelmingly focused on taxonomic studies; Hooker and George Bentham were only at the …
  • … days later, Oliver apologised for the tone of his previous letter (‘more seemly if addressed to one …

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…

Matches: 4 hits

  • … ( Beagle diary , p. 143). He was delighted to receive a letter from an African correspondent …
  • … and Progress Key letters: Letter to J. S. Henslow, 11 April 1833 …
  • … in Society and History 45: 815–42. Stocking, George. 1868. Race, culture, and evolution: …
  • … Correspondence with women Key letters : Letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February …

Books on the Beagle

Summary

The Beagle was a sort of floating library.  Find out what Darwin and his shipmates read here.

Matches: 23 hits

  • … Captain FitzRoy in the  Narrative  (2: 18). CD, in his letter to Henslow, 9 [September 1831] , …
  • … . . . There will be  plenty  of room for Books.’ (Letter from Robert FitzRoy, 23 September 1831 …
  • … the ‘immense stock’ which CD mentions may be had from a letter FitzRoy wrote to his sister during an …
  • … on board the  Beagle §  —  mentioned in a letter or other source as being on board …
  • … they were on board is to be found in them § Anson, George.  A voyage round the world, in the …
  • … Naturelle  3 (1834): 84–115. (DAR 37.1: 677v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 12 July 1835). * …
  • … d’histoire naturelle . 17 vols. Paris, 1822–31. (Letter from J. S. Henslow, 15–21 January [1833]). …
  • … a report of the proceedings . .  . Cambridge, 1833.  (Letter to Charles Whitley, 23 July 1834). …
  • … of the 2d meeting . . . Oxford, 1832 . London, 1833.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, March 1834 and …
  • … notebook , p. 86). Darwin Library–Down †. Byron, George Anson, 7th Baron.  Voyage of H.M.S. …
  • … also Hawkesworth, John). (DAR 32.2: 89v.; Robert FitzRoy’s letter to the South African Christian …
  • … residence in New Zealand in 1827 . . . London, 1832. (Letter to Caroline Darwin, 27 December 1835). …
  • … § Euclid.  Elements of geometry.  (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 30 October 1831). ‡ Falkner, …
  • … tracts’, Darwin Library–CUL †. Greenough, George Bellas.  A critical examination of the …
  • … of essays.  London, 1819. (DAR 32.2: 77) Greenough, George Bellas. Anniversary address (1834 …
  • … (Vols. 1 and 2, in one, 3d edition, inscribed from J. S. Henslow to CD ‘on his departure’, September …
  • … FitzRoy, [10 October 1831]). DAR 196.2 †. * Juan, George and Ulloa, Antonio de.  A voyage to …
  • … polypiers.  Paris, 1821. (DAR 30.1: 13v.; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …
  • … . 1832’; vol. 3 (1833): ‘C. Darwin’; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). Darwin …
  • … lost.  ( ’Beagle’ diary , p. 107; letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 November 1832). * Molina, …
  • … late voyages.  2 parts. London, 1694. (Letter to J. S. Henslow, 24 July – 7 November 1834). …
  • … 1773. (DAR 31.2: 362v.; 38.1: 887). Scrope, George Julius Poulett.  Considerations on …
  • … history and botany.  London, 1822. Vancouver,George.  A voyage of discovery to the North …

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, …

Women as a scientific audience

Summary

Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those exchanged with his editors and publisher, reveal a lot about his intended audience. Regardless of whether or not women were deliberately targeted as a…

Matches: 28 hits

  • Were women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • Tollet for proofreading and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. …
  • her to read to check that she can understand it. Letter 7312 - Darwin to Darwin, F. …
  • from all but educated, typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E
  • he seeks her help with tone and style. Letter 7329 - Murray , J. to Darwin, [28
  • in order to minimise impeding general perusal. Letter 7331 - Darwin to Murray, …
  • he uses to avoid ownership of indelicate content. Letter 8335 - Reade, W. W. to
  • so as not to lose the interest of women. Letter 8341 - Reade, W. W. to Darwin, …
  • which will make it more appealing to women. Letter 8611 - Cupples, A. J. to
  • Darwins female readership Letter 5391 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [6 February
  • of the Manchester Ladies Literary Society . Letter 6551 - Becker, L. E . to
  • the chapter on pangenesis, which is a revelation. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. …
  • Darwin assumes that &#039;A. B. Blackwell&#039; is a man. Letter 7177 - Cupples, G. to
  • him to the psychology of Herbert Spencer. Letter 7624 - Bathoe, M . B. to Darwin
  • his statements on a lack of reasoning in animals. Letter 7644 - Barnard, A. to
  • during a visit to an asylum with her father. Letter 7651 - Wedgwood, F. J. to
  • on any comments that she feels might be suitable. Letter 7411 - Pfeiffer, E. J. to
  • and beauty in the process of sexual selection. Letter 8055 - Hennell, S. S. to Darwin, …
  • of a womans natural thinking”. Letter 8778 - Forster, L. M . to Darwin, H. …
  • and the showing of teeth in Expression . Letter 10072 - Pape, C. to
  • and hopes Darwin will complete her questionnaire. Letter 10390 - Herrick, S. M. B. …
  • of questions which she hopes arent too silly. Letter 10415 - Darwin to Herrick, S. …
  • and is pleased that his work has interested her. Letter 10508 - Treat, M. to Darwin
  • it nearly all night before she could lay it down. Letter 13547 - Tanner, M. H. …
  • involving worms which occurred in her garden. Letter 13650 Kennard, C. A. to Darwin
  • Reading Variation Letter 5712 - Dallas, W. S. to Darwin, [8 December 1867] …
  • array of factscontained in the work. Letter 5861 - Blyth, E. to Darwin, [11
  • are a few things which must be altered”. Letter 5928 - Gray, A. to Darwin, [25

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…

Matches: 29 hits

  • … and popular publications. A lengthy discussion written by George Douglas Campbell, duke of Argyll, …
  • … The death of Hugh Falconer Darwin’s first letter to Hooker of 1865 suggests that the family …
  • … having all the Boys at home: they make the house jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • … had failed to include among the grounds of the award ( see letter from Hugh Falconer to Erasmus …
  • … his letters to Darwin, and Darwin responded warmly: ‘Your letter is by far the grandest eulogium …
  • … may well rest content that I have not laboured in vain’ ( letter to Hugh Falconer, 6 January [1865] …
  • … always a most kind friend to me. So the world goes.—’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 2 February [1865] …
  • … for our griefs & pains: these alone are unalloyed’ ( letter from J. D. Hooker, 3 February 1865 …
  • … gas.— Sic transit gloria mundi, with a vengeance’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 9 February [1865] ). …
  • … added, ‘I know it is folly & nonsense to try anyone’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] …
  • … ineffective, and Darwin had given it up by early July ( see letter to J. D. Hooker, [10 July 1865] …
  • … of anything, & that almost exclusively bread & meat’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 15 August [1865] …
  • … better, attributing the improvement to Jones’s diet ( see letter to T. H. Huxley, 4 October [1865] …
  • … he was ‘able to write about an hour on most days’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 22 December [1865] ). …
  • … others very forward, except the last & concluding one’ ( letter to John Murray, 31 March [1865] …
  • … my book will be ready for the press in the autumn’ ( letter to John Murray, 4 April [1865] ). In …
  • … however, ‘I am never idle when I can do anything’ ( letter to John Murray, 2 June [1865] ). It was …
  • … might be more willing to bear the expense of the woodcuts ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865 …
  • … & I loathe the whole subject like tartar emetic’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 19 January [1865] ) …
  • … you will be an unnatural parent, for it is your child’ ( letter to Asa Gray, 19 April 1865 ; …
  • … needed for references, probably from the Linnean Society ( letter to [Richard Kippist], 4 June …
  • … in or before November 1864 ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to Ernst Haeckel, 21 November [1864 …
  • … 1865 that he had just finished hearing it read aloud ( letter to Fritz Müller, 10 August [1865] ). …
  • … Linnean Society for publication in Müller’s name ( see letter from Fritz Müller, [12 and 31 August, …
  • … so weak that I am not able to do any scientific work’ ( letter to Fritz Müller, 20 September [1865] …
  • … societies and in the popular press. In December 1864, George Douglas Campbell, the duke of Argyll, …
  • … visits. William was working as a banker in Southampton. George was at Trinity College, Cambridge; in …
  • … from his description, was something of a thriller, and George Eliot’s  The mill on the Floss , …
  • … met. The last two months of the year also saw letters from George Henslow, the son of Darwin’s …

Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep

Summary

In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…

Matches: 30 hits

  • … Hooker, ‘or as far as I know any scientific man’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 14 December [1878] ). …
  • … or arched.… Almost all seedlings come up arched’ ( letter to Sophy Wedgwood, 24 March [1878–80] ). …
  • … when he finds out that he missed sensitiveness of apex’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] …
  • … Darwin complained. ‘I am ashamed at my blunder’ ( letter to John Tyndall, 22 December [1878] ). …
  • … accursed German language: Sachs is very kind to him’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 18 June …
  • … have nobody to talk to, about my work, I scribble to you ( letter to Francis Darwin, 7 [July 1878] …
  • … but it is horrid not having you to discuss it with’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 20 [July 1878] ). …
  • … determine whether they had chlorophyll, Francis reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 …
  • … ‘There is one machine we must have’, Francis wrote ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 17 July …
  • … ‘He seems to me to jump to conclusions rather’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [before 3 August 1878] …
  • … the pot-plant every day & never the bedded out one’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [after 7 July …
  • … ‘I have borrowed Cieselski & read him,’ he reported ( letter from Francis Darwin, [22 June 1878 …
  • … books & red-wine which is here the cure for all evils’ ( letter from Francis Darwin, [24 and 25 …
  • … is very sweet & pretty,’ he added a week later ( letter to Francis Darwin, 14 July [1878] ). …
  • … in a booboo, whereas I ought to have said a gee-gee’ ( letter to Francis Darwin, 17 July [1878] ). …
  • … dear no”’. Darwin shared some of his observations with George John Romanes, who was engaged in his …
  • … close down on the object, but he will always do so’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 20 August [1878] ). …
  • … idiot, a deaf-mute, a monkey & a baby in your house!’ ( letter to G. J. Romanes, 2 September …
  • … that I want to play the part of a thieving wasp’ ( letter from G. J. Romanes, 21 June 1878 ). …
  • … than zoology, where his work had been more controversial ( letter from J.-B. Dumas and Joseph …
  • … me Dr Darwin, the title seems to me quite ridiculous’ ( letter to John Price, 2 April [1878] ). …
  • … of the “imperfection of the Geological Record”’ ( letter from Edmund Mojsisovics von Mojsvár, 28 …
  • … science our atlas would not have come together’ ( letter from Arnold Dodel-Port, 18 June 1878 ). …
  • … or religious prejudice. An engineer in Bohemia addressed his letter to ‘the inspired hermit of Down’ …
  • … in Germany, as if they had been school-boys’ ( letter to Karl von Scherzer, 1 April 1878 ). …
  • … a personal god with the ‘eternity of matter’ ( letter from H. N. Ridley, [before 28 November 1878] …
  • … of evolutionary progress was raised by the portrait-painter George Arthur Gaskell, who suggested …
  • … preferred to engage with critics through correspondence, George asked his father’s advice on …
  • … Society of London by Samuel Haughton. ‘If I do write’, George worried, ‘I’m pretty sure to get in …
  • … crop (see Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. S. Henslow, 28 October [1845] ). He was aware …
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