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What did Darwin believe?
Summary
What did Darwin really believe about God? the Christian revelation? the implications of his theory of evolution for religious faith? These questions were asked again and again in the years following the publication of Origin of species (1859). They are…
Matches: 16 hits
- … often seeking direction for their own. Mary Boole’s letter In December 1866 Darwin …
- … of Science & the promises of religion. See the letter Boole, like a number …
- … meeting point should still be far off. See the letter In his response to Boole …
- … feeling. But he does not venture into such territory in this letter to a stranger. Emma …
- … description of my state of mind. See the letter In this letter, Darwin is …
- … & I cannot help being open with you. See the letter We know from Darwin’s …
- … means so in eternity. There is a marked tension in Emma’s letter between reason and feeling, and …
- … as a guide to moral conduct, as in his remarks on Paul’s letter to Galatians, chapter six: ‘read …
- … it derive from inner feelings or instincts? In a letter written to Charles several months …
- … trying to learn the truth, you cannot be wrong … See the letter Yet she is concerned …
- … by adopting … the first fashionable view. Letter from T. H. Huxley to H. A. Heathorn, …
- … life. Huxley could not accept this, but Kingsley’s letter opened a line of communication that …
- … conception of entire surrender to the will of God.’ (Letter from T. H. Huxley to C. Kingsley, …
- … blows are everywhere necessary. See the letter Darwin is often portrayed as …
- … potential allies and disturb old allegiances. Haeckel’s letter had been prompted by an admonition …
- … of the truth of his own conclusions. See the letter Cautious style and self …
Biogeography
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Observations aboard the Beagle During his five year journey around the world on HMS Beagle, Charles Darwin encountered many different landscapes and an enormous variety of flora and fauna. Some of his most…
Matches: 4 hits
- … Nature 25:529-530. Letters Letter Packet: Biogeography …
- … which seeds will be easily killed in salt water. Letter 1669 —Charles Darwin to JD …
- … particular make-up of a specific plant community. Letter 1680 —Charles Darwin to JD …
- … seed experiment than the question of germination. Letter 1681 —Charles Darwin to JD …
Darwin in Conversation exhibition
Summary
Meet Charles Darwin as you have never met him before. Come to our exhibition at Cambridge University Library, running from 9 July to 3 December 2022, and discover a fascinating series of interwoven conversations with Darwin's many hundreds of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … 9 July – 3 December 2022 Milstein Exhibition Centre, Cambridge University …
Origin is 160; Darwin's 1875 letters now online
Summary
To mark the 160th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species, the full transcripts and footnotes of nearly 650 letters to and from Charles Darwin in 1875 are published online for the first time. You can read about Darwin's life in 1875…
Matches: 7 hits
- … very much more about the wide distribution of my books. ( Letter to R. F. Cooke, 29 June [1875] ) …
- … over the sickening work of preparing new Editions . ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 18 August [1875] ) …
- … insensible, if the experiment made this possible ( Letter to H. E. Litchfield, 4 January [1875] …
- … me in the vestry of having made false statements ( Letter to John Lubbock, 8 April 1875 ) …
- … Such energy as yours almost always succeeds ( Letter to G. H. Darwin, 13 October [1875] ) …
- … done in science I owe to the study of his great works ( Letter to A. B. Buckley, 23 February 1875 …
- … act which any scientific Socy. has done in my time ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, [12 December 1875] ) …
Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
Matches: 4 hits
- … make any such changes to the existing German edition (see letter from H. G. Bronn, [before 11 …
- … number of small corrections & a few of importance’ (see letter to H. G. Bronn, 11 March [1862] …
- … that the remainder be included in the new edition; in his letter to Bronn of 25 April [1862 ], he …
- … possible use in a new American edition of Origin (see letter from E. Schweizerbart’sche …
Movement in Plants
Summary
The power of movement in plants, published on 7 November 1880, was the final large botanical work that Darwin wrote. It was the only work in which the assistance of one of his children, Francis Darwin, is mentioned on the title page. The research for this…
Matches: 27 hits
- … had considered combining the works in a single volume ( letter to J. V. Carus, 7 February 1875 ). …
- … , a plant that exhibited all three types of movement ( letter from R. I. Lynch, [before 28 July …
- … the woodblock using photography for scientific accuracy ( letter from J. D. Cooper, 13 December …
- … lost colour, withered, and died within a couple of days ( letter from A. F. Batalin, 28 February …
- … how their observations could have been so much at odds ( letter to Hugo de Vries 13 February 1879 …
- … the botanist Gaetano Durando, to find plants and seeds ( letter to Francis Darwin, [4 February – 8 …
- … only the regulator & not cause of movement ’. In the same letter, Darwin discussed terminology, …
- … to replace Frank’s ‘Transversal-Heliotropismus’ ( letter from W. E. Darwin, 10 February [1880] ). …
- … experiments and devised a new test, which he described in a letter to his mother, ‘ I did some …
- … and it appeared in 1880 (F. Darwin 1880b). In the same letter, Francis revealed the frustration of …
- … on holiday in the Lake District, Darwin received a long letter from De Vries detailing his latest …
- … described as ‘little discs’ and ‘greenish bodies’ ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 29 October 1879 …
- … of cotton that he had not been able to observe earlier ( letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, 20 …
- … might have been too weak to lift the weight of the seed ( letter from Asa Gray, 3 February 1880 ). …
- … germination occurred, the plant would be killed by frost ( letter from Asa Gray, 4 April 1880 ). …
- … Plants’ or ‘The Nature of the Movements of Plants’ ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 23 April [1880] ). …
- … Phytographie (A. de Candolle 1880). In his letter of thanks for the book, Darwin promised to send …
- … for advice about the number of copies they should print ( letter to John Murray, 10 July 1880 ). …
- … works, Murray was willing to publish on the usual terms ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 15 July 1880 ). …
- … only suggest printing more copies or raising the price ( letter from R. F. Cooke, 20 July 1880 ). …
- … Stahl’s paper with him, for the relevant page numbers ( letter to Francis Darwin, 5 August [1880] …
- … publisher, Eduard Koch had already agreed to publish it ( letter from J. V. Carus, 18 September …
- … as stereotypes of the text were available from Murray ( letter from D. Appleton & Co., 17 …
- … corollas or the reactive movement of pistils and stamens ( letter from Édouard Heckel, 23 September …
- … for the translations and asked about the cost of these ( letter to R. F. Cooke, 16 October 1880 ). …
- … last chapter & you will know whole contents of book ’. No letter to Balfour survives, but …
- … from colleagues at home and abroad. Cohn concluded his letter of praise, remarking, ‘ I don’t know …
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: 6 hits
- … the enthusiasm with which the book has been received. Letter t o Francis Darwin, 9 November …
- … in my life as for its success. Letter to A. B. Buckley, 4 January 1881 …
- … & I have no little jobs which I can do. Letter to J. D. Hooker, 15 June 1881 …
- … Letter to W. E. Darwin, 4 August [1881] In …
- … seemed to me admirable. Letter to T. H. Farrer, 28 August 1881 …
- … Letter t o B. J. Sulivan, 1 December 1881 …
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Matches: 7 hits
- … ‘all kinds of facts’ across a wide range of fields ( letter to W. D. Fox [25 January 1841] ). He …
- … men, with a curb on make far the best observers’ ( letter to C. H. L. Woodd , 4 March 1850 ). He …
- … speculation there is no good & original observation’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 22 December …
- … of an engineer on his early experiments with Drosera ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December …
- … ‘I have become very fond of little experiments’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, [21 March 1857] ; …
- … ‘all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 7 May [1855] ). But …
- … at Science … & am never happy except when at work’ ( letter to J. M. Herbert, 25 December [1880 …
All Darwin's letters from 1873 go online for the anniversary of Origin
Summary
To celebrate the 158th anniversary of the publication of Origin of species on 24 November, the full transcripts and footnotes of over 500 letters from and to Charles Darwin in 1873 are now available online. Read about Darwin's life in 1873 through his…
Matches: 5 hits
- … than proving a true act of digestion in Drosera. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 23 October [1873] ) …
- … I could give 2 scientific secretaries work to do ( Letter to E. A. Darwin, 20 September 1873 ) …
- … have now been printed off, & most of them sold! ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 January [1873] …
- … you, as we should to an honoured & much loved brother. ( Letter to T. H. Huxley, 23 …
- … their meaning; some love of the new and marvellous ( Letter to Francis Galton, 28 May 1873 …
Darwin's health
Summary
On 28 March 1849, ten years before Origin was published, Darwin wrote to his good friend Joseph Hooker from Great Malvern in Worcestershire, where Dr James Manby Gully ran a fashionable water-cure establishment. Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to…
Matches: 22 hits
- … Darwin apologised for his delayed reply to Hooker’s letter which he put down to his exceptionally …
- … I was rapidly going the way of all flesh. See the letter At various periods in his …
- … months while he took Dr Gully’s water cure. In Darwin’s letter to Hooker, he described Dr Gully’s …
- … certain that the Water Cure is no quackery.— See the letter After returning from …
- … in the years around 1848, 1852, 1859, and 1863. In a letter to Hooker in April of 1861, for example, …
- … as my retching is apt to be extremely loud.— See the letter Besides experimenting …
- … the vomiting wonderfully & I am gaining vigour .’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] ) …
- … these grounds (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 2, letter to J. S. Henslow, 14 October …
- … first mentioned attacks of ‘periodical vomiting’ in a letter to W. D. Fox, [7 June 1840] ( …
- … sickness in 1849, describing ‘incessant vomiting’ in his letter to Richard Owen, [24 February 1849 …
- … he was sick almost daily (see Correspondence vol. 12, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, [6 …
- … before Darwin’s decision to consult John Chapman. In a letter to J. D. Hooker, [20-] 22 February …
- … after eating, and that he seldom threw up food. In his letter to Chapman of 16 May [1865] , …
- … and care see, for example, Correspondence vol. 4, letter to Emma Darwin, [27-8 May 1848] . …
- … had suffered from gout (see Correspondence vol. 1, letter to W. D. Fox, [25-9 January 1829] , …
- … see King-Hele 1999, pp. 161-2). Erasmus also wrote a letter to Darwin’s father, in which he claimed …
- … are discussed in Colp 1977, pp. 31-2, 47, 98. In his letter to J. D. Hooker, 5 March [1863] ( …
- … feel a little alive’. See also Correspondence vol. 12, letter from Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, …
- … the treatment (see, for example, Correspondence vol. 4, letter to W. D. Fox, 24 [March 1849] …
- … at Down for several years (see Correspondence vol. 4, letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October 1849 …
- … September and October 1863 (see Correspondence vol. 11, letter from Emma Darwin to W. D. Fox, …
- … checked his chronic vomiting ( Correspondence vol. 12, letter to J. D. Hooker, 13 April [1864] …
1879 Letters now online
Summary
In 1879, Darwin continued his research on movement in plants and researched, wrote, and published a short biography of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin as an introduction to a translation of an essay by Ernst Krause on Erasmus’s scientific work. Darwin’s son…
Matches: 5 hits
- … myself a perfect fool to have undertaken such a job. ( Letter to J. D. Hooker, 1 December [1879] ) …
- … to common sense & not to professional advisors . ( Letter to the Darwin children, 21 …
- … a specialised centre for receiving certain irritations ( Letter t o Francis Darwin, 2 July …
- … other to attend to the real interests of the country . ( Letter to T. H. Farrer, 23 October 1879 …
- … or distinction, & more even than strong health . ( Letter to T. H. Farrer, 13 October 1879 ) …
The full edition is now online!
Summary
For nearly fifty years successive teams of researchers on both sides of the Atlantic have been working to track down all surviving letters written by or to Charles Darwin, research their content, and publish the complete texts. The thirtieth and final…
Matches: 6 hits
- … life, will be published in early 2023 and all the letter texts – more than 15000 between 1822 and …
- … ‘ My course is nearly run. ’ Letter to Lawson Tait, 13 February 1882 In …
- … convinced of the truth of Evolution as I am. ’ Letter to John Murray, 21 January 1882 …
- … than for 3 weeks & have had as yet no pain. ’ Letter to T. H. Huxley, 27 March 1882 …
- … all that with my children it is worth having .’ Letter from Emma Darwin to J. D. Hooker, …
- … greatest friend outside the family, on 20 April: this letter concludes the correspondence for 1882. …
Schools Gallery: Using Darwin’s letters in the classroom
Summary
English| History| Science English Pupils in Cumbria lead the way Year 9 English pupils at Ulverston Victoria High School spent several weeks studying Darwin’s letters, including comparing sections from Darwin’s ‘Voyage of the Beagle’ to letters…
Photograph album of German and Austrian scientists
Summary
The album was sent to Darwin to mark his birthday on 12 February 1877 by the civil servant Emil Rade, and contained 165 portraits of German and Austrian scientists. The work was lavishly produced and bound in blue velvet with metal embossing. Its ornate…
Matches: 5 hits
- … is by far the greatest honour which I have ever received ( Letter to Ernst Haeckel, 16 February …
- … to them when first laid before the scientific world.— ( Letter from Leonard Blomefield, 12 March …
- … which I don’t feel myself worth to give you ( Letter from J. V. Carus, 22 March 1877 ) …
- … man is to my understanding his scientific work. ( Letter from C. G. Semper, 26 April 1877 ) …
- … Sir, will kindly incorporate it in the German album ( Letter from Carl Kraus , 10 February 1878 …
Suggested reading
Summary
There is an extensive secondary literature on Darwin's life and work. Here are some suggested titles that focus Darwin’s correspondence, as well as scientific correspondence and letter-writing more generally. Collections of Darwin’s letters …
Matches: 9 hits
- … correspondence, as well as scientific correspondence and letter-writing more generally. …
- … Murray. Sources on scientific correspondence and letter-writing On Darwin’s …
- … of Chicago Press. Chapter 2. On the history of letter writing: Altman, J. G. …
- … and the social grounding of differentiated genres, in Letter writing as a social practice , …
- … R. 1997. An ordinary kind of writing: model letters and letter-writing in Ancien Régime France, in …
- … Earle, R., ed. 1999. Epistolary selves: etters and letter-writers, 1600–1945 . Aldershot: Ashgate …
- … Pp. 83–108. Hornbeak, K. G. 1934. The compleat letter-writer in English, 1568–1800. Smith …
- … Press. Pp. 36–43. Some 19th-century sources on letter writing: Davies, J. …
- … Magazine 77 : 509–17. Lyell, A. 1896. English letter writing in the nineteenth century. …
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, …
Search tips
Summary
In this section: The three basic searches Using filters to refine search Using facets to refine search results What is (and isn’t) in here? How do I… …Find all letters exchanged with a particular correspondent? …Find letters written by…
Matches: 19 hits
- … correspondent? …Find an exact word or phrase in a letter? …Find letters referring to a …
- … of the printed Correspondence ? …Find a particular letter using its archival classmark? …
- … the biography are not working? Need to see an original letter? Why is the letter text not …
- … Use the filters (see below) to confine the text to the letter text only, or the summary only. …
- … results). Using filters to refine search Letter text – search only the main body …
- … language letters Summary – search only the letter summaries. Author – search …
- … for letters written from a particular address Letter number – search for letters by the …
- … information see also the editorial policy . Letter texts: This site will eventually …
- … Correspondence for now. Metadata: For every letter we aim to provide information …
- … a date or a part of a date was not written on the letter by its author and has had to be inferred, …
- … entry. Find an exact word or phrase in a letter? [NB: the main keyword search …
- … confessing murder will return all entries where the letter or its summary, or the footnotes, …
- … volume” filter Find a particular letter using its archival classmark? First …
- … Library. Problem or question? Why is the letter date or part of the date in …
- … of the letters had a complete date written on them by the letter writer. Not getting …
- … they are redundant. Need to see an original letter? You will have to contact the …
- … as the “Source of text” in the lefthand menu on the letter page. Some of our transcriptions are …
- … Why are the footnotes not there? Some letter texts are made available online before they are …
- … Project. The public identifier for the letters is the letter number (sometimes called a “calendar” …
Editing a Letter
Summary
Alison Pearn describes the difficult task of editing a letter with an unknown correspondent and no date.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Alison Pearn describes the difficult task of editing a letter with an unknown correspondent and no …
Letter from Wallace
Summary
Alfred Russel Wallace, who was collecting natural history specimens in the Malay archipelago, sends Darwin an outline of his own theory of species change. Darwin was deeply shocked at how similar Wallace's ideas were to his own.
Matches: 1 hits
- … Alfred Russel Wallace, who was collecting natural history specimens in the Malay archipelago, …
