The blog site of the 'Darwin and Gender' stream of the Darwin Correspondence Project.
Those of us who are planning a ‘double dip recession Christmas’ might find frugal inspiration in Emma Darwin’s traditional Victorian fayre. Over the course of her family life Emma Darwin noted down around forty recipes in her personal cookery notebook which … Continue reading
Charles Darwin’s private letters suggest that he was not keen on socialising. Dedicated scientist that he was, Darwin’s preference was for “society – and little of it”. Indeed, one of Darwin’s concerns about getting married was that it would entail taking a … Continue reading
As suggested in an earlier blog post, Darwin was something of a reluctant bride groom. His chief concern about getting married and having children centred on the loss of freedom it would entail and, of course, the impact that this … Continue reading
In an article and book review published in The Guardian in 2003, Richard Dawkins excitedly reported that “an obscure letter in a library” suggested that Charles Darwin was the forefather not only of the theory of evolution but also of modern genetics. The … Continue reading
Armed with homemade cakes and a dictaphone, the project has been heading out to meet with secondary school teachers to discuss opportunities for making use of Darwin’s correspondence in the classroom. This first stage of an ongoing consultation process has already generated … Continue reading
In April 1838, on the back of a letter he’d received earlier in the month, Charles Darwin scribbled down the pros and cons of becoming a married man . As an ambitious young Naturalist who had travelled the world on The Beagle … Continue reading
What’s the difference between a woman and a peahen? Seems a silly (if not insulting) question. But in Descent of Man Darwin proposed a theory which, uncharacteristically, set women decisively apart from the rest of the animal kingdom. According to … Continue reading
Editors. All good writers need them, and Darwin was no exception. Although many members of the Darwin family helped refine his manuscripts, it was his daughter Henrietta on whom Darwin arguably relied the most, particularly during the 1860s when he edited the Descent … Continue reading
Sex is a seemingly inescapable reality of the biological world. Surveying the animal and plant kingdoms, at least, seems to reveal a world distributed into male and female. But the ultimate cause of sexual difference was a mystery even to … Continue reading
Although Darwin’s letters are a treasure of nineteenth-century natural history, they also reveal that he was engaged in lively conversations about a wide-range of subjects, including contemporary philosophy, politics and literature. Perhaps unsurprisingly, many of these more casual exchanges occurred … Continue reading