To J. D. Hooker 30 July [1856]
Summary
CD’s predicament with continental extensions: they would remove argument for multiple creations, yet he opposes the doctrine. Lyell will not express an opinion on this.
Lyell fears mutability would lead to more specific names.
Encloses copy of letters to Lyell [1910 and 1917].
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Joseph Dalton Hooker |
| Date: | 30 July [1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 114: 172, 165, and 167 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1933 |
Matches: 3 hits
- … 1881, 2: 216). Lyell based much of his geological work on the idea that groups of species spread out from a single geographical source while remaining constant in form: deposits were considered to be the same age if their fossils were of identical species. See letter …
- … 1881, 2: 214–15). CD refers to the difficulty he experienced in defining species in his monograph on the Cirripedia. See Correspondence vol. 5, letter …
- … a letter from Charles Lyell to J. D. Hooker, dated 25 July 1856 (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, …
From Thomas Vernon Wollaston [February 1856]
Summary
Sends Madeira specimens, including frogs recently introduced into the island, and flourishing.
| Author: | Thomas Vernon Wollaston |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | [Feb 1856] |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3: 299 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1806 |
To Charles Lyell 10 November [1856]
Summary
Illnesses of Mrs Horner and Emma Darwin.
Death of Sarah Elizabeth Wedgwood.
Mentions work on his "Big Book" [Natural selection].
Remarks on J. A. H. de Bosquet’s discovery of a Chthamalus in the Chalk.
| Author: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Addressee: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Date: | 10 Nov [1856] |
| Classmark: | American Philosophical Society (Mss.B.D25.140) |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1984 |
From Charles Lyell 1–2 May 1856
Summary
Urges CD to publish his theory with small part of data.
Corrects names of land shells on list of shells picked up at Down.
Discusses transport of Ancylus from one river-bed to another by water-beetle.
"I hear that when you & Hooker & Huxley & Wollaston got together you made light of all Species & grew more & more unorthodox."
Mentions discussion of old Atlantis by Oswald Heer.
Comments on Helix and Nanina.
Mentions beetle discovered with small bag of eggs of water-spider under wing.
Madeira evidence favours single species birth-place theory.
| Author: | Charles Lyell, 1st baronet |
| Addressee: | Charles Robert Darwin |
| Date: | 1–2 May 1856 |
| Classmark: | DAR 205.3: 282 |
| Letter no: | DCP-LETT-1862 |
Matches: 2 hits
- … 1881, 2: 212). CD made notes, dated 28 April 1856, on his conversation with Wollaston. These are preserved in DAR 197.2, together with further notes dated 8 May 1856. In a letter …
- … letter to Bunbury, 30 April 1856 (see n. 7, above), Lyell again discussed pigeons in connection with CD’s transmutation theory: ‘Darwin finds, among his fifteen varieties of the common pigeon, three good genera and about fifteen good species according to the received mode of species and genus-making of the best ornithologists, and the bony skeleton varying with the rest! ’ (K. M. Lyell ed. 1881, …
| letter | (4) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Lyell, Charles | (1) |
| Wollaston, T. V. | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (2) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Lyell, Charles | (1) |
| Darwin, C. R. | (4) |
| Lyell, Charles | (2) |
| Hooker, J. D. | (1) |
| Wollaston, T. V. | (1) |
Darwin in letters, 1881: Old friends and new admirers
Summary
In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began writing about all the eminent men he had met. He embarked on this task, which formed an addition to his autobiography, because he had nothing else to do. He had…
Matches: 1 hits
- … In May 1881, Darwin, one of the best-known celebrities in England if not the world, began …
Volume 29 (1881) is published!
Summary
In October 1881, Darwin published his last book, The formation of vegetable mould through the action of worms: with observations on their habits. A slim volume on a subject that many people could understand and on which they had their own opinions, it went…
Matches: 1 hits
- … From the start of 1881, Darwin had his demise on his mind. He increasingly relied on his son …
Intellectual capacities: From Caroline Kennard, 26 December 1881
Summary
We might assume that among female admirers of Darwin’s work, many would have been disappointed by his views on the comparative intellectual capacities of the sexes expressed in The Descent of Man (1872). This was certainly true of the American feminist…
Matches: 1 hits
- … We might assume that among female admirers of Darwin’s work, many would have been disappointed by …
Terms of engagement: To Julius Wiesner, 25 October 1881
Summary
Thomas Huxley’s pugnacious public defence of evolution led to his nickname ‘Darwin’s bulldog’ and to a view of Darwin as an evader of controversy. Darwin firmly believed that controversy rarely did any good, but this did not mean that he avoided challenges…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Thomas Huxley’s pugnacious public defence of evolution led to his nickname ‘Darwin’s bulldog’ and …
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: 1 hits
- … In 1882, Darwin reached his 74th year Earthworms had been published the previous October, and …
Darwin in letters, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … ‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury …
1.18 John Collier, oil in Linnean
Summary
< Back to Introduction By 1881 it was clear to Darwin’s intimates that he was increasingly frail, and that, as he approached death, he had finally escaped from religious controversy to become a heroic figure, loved and venerated for his achievements…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction By 1881 it was clear to Darwin’s intimates that he was …
Casting about: Darwin on worms
Summary
Earthworms were the subject of a citizen science project to map the distribution of earthworms across Britain (BBC Today programme, 26 May 2014). The general understanding of the role earthworms play in improving soils and providing nutrients for plants to…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Earthworms featured in the news announcement in May 2014 that a citizen science project had …
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: 1 hits
- … Design | Personal Belief | Beauty | The Church Perhaps the most notorious …
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
- … Darwin's correspondence shows that women made significant contributions to Darwin's work, but …
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: 1 hits
- … Target audience? | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
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: 1 hits
- … Darwin's most famous book On the origin of species by means of natural selection (Origin) was …
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: 1 hits
- … Over 850 illustrations from the printed volumes of The Correspondence of Charles Darwin have …
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: 1 hits
- … The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early …
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 as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both …
3.20 Elliott and Fry, c.1880-1, verandah
Summary
< Back to Introduction In photographs of Darwin taken c.1880-1, the expression of energetic thought conveyed by photographs of earlier years gives way to the pathos of evident physical frailty. While Collier’s oil portrait of this time emphasises…
Matches: 1 hits
- … < Back to Introduction In photographs of Darwin taken c.1880-1, the expression of …
Earthworms
Summary
As with many of Darwin’s research topics, his interest in worms spanned nearly his entire working life. Some of his earliest correspondence about earthworms was written and received in the 1830s, shortly after his return from his Beagle voyage, and his…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Sources | Discussion Questions | Experiment Earthworms and Wedgwood cousins …
Science: A Man’s World?
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth …
Animals, ethics, and the progress of science
Summary
Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In Descent, he argued that some animals exhibited moral behaviour and had evolved mental powers analogous to conscience. He gave examples of cooperation, even…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Darwin’s view on the kinship between humans and animals had important ethical implications. In …
