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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: 2 hits
- … book, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex ( Descent ). They trace not only the …
- … to press the point too soon; his early inkling that racial differences were the result of sexual …
Darwin in letters, 1868: Studying sex
Summary
The quantity of Darwin’s correspondence increased dramatically in 1868 due largely to his ever-widening research on human evolution and sexual selection.Darwin’s theory of sexual selection as applied to human descent led him to investigate aspects of the…
Matches: 5 hits
- … the concept of sexual selection to explain certain differences between males and females of the same …
- … females. Darwin found, however, that precise information on sex ratios was scanty, and he spent much …
- … males getting wives One week into his research on sex ratios, Darwin remarked, ‘the whole …
- … views on the role of sexual selection in producing marked differences in colour between males and …
- … at least 200 folio pages!’ Wallace was sorry that their differences had caused anxiety: ‘Pray do not …
Darwin in letters, 1869: Forward on all fronts
Summary
At the start of 1869, Darwin was hard at work making changes and additions for a fifth edition of Origin. He may have resented the interruption to his work on sexual selection and human evolution, but he spent forty-six days on the task. Much of the…
Matches: 6 hits
- … for The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex ( Descent ), and gathering additional …
- … Darwin and others employed in these matters (‘individual differences’, ‘single variations’) was …
- … of what you have understood … I always thought individual differences [i.e., differences between …
- … at the British Museum in London, supplied extensive data on differences between male and female fish …
- … after Descent . Natural selection and humans: differences with Wallace But even as …
- … inheritance, as limited either separately or conjointly by sex, age, and season, with the inherited …
Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
Matches: 7 hits
- … Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that …
- … organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females …
- … depend more on using 'special weapons, confined to the male sex', to fight off the …
- … the females'. But what about the apparently useless differences between the sexes? …
- … . . . what I want to know is how low in the scale sexual differences occur which require some degree …
- … for the female, or ornaments which attract the opposite sex. The response was so good …
- … which is The descent of man and selection in relation to sex . It appeared in 1871. The …
Forms of flowers
Summary
Darwin’s book The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of flowers of the same species. It drew on and expanded five articles Darwin had published on the…
Matches: 5 hits
- … species , published in 1877, investigated the structural differences in the sexual organs of …
- … ‘How perplexing’ Darwin had first noticed differences in the flowers of cowslips in May …
- … of insects to set them, & I never will believe that these differences are without some meaning. …
- … books, The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex (1871), and The expression of the …
- … Darwin here had only hinted at the possibility of functional differences, but by 1875 he had …
Darwin in public and private
Summary
Extracts from Darwin's published works, in particular Descent of man, and selected letters, explore Darwin's views on the operation of sexual selection in humans, and both his publicly and privately expressed views on its practical implications…
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- … It has long been known that in the vertebrate kingdom one sex bears rudiments of various accessory …
- … the cultural, as opposed to biological, nature of sex differences. …
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
- … tried to explain the origin of human races, and many of the differences between the sexes, with a …
- … In animals, he argued, sexual selection tended to amplify differences between males and females of …
- … of hierarchy. This is most clear in his discussion of the differences between men and women, and in …
- … 6: 9–23 [in a special issue on ‘Descent of Darwin: race, sex, and human nature’]. Shanafelt, …
Suggested reading
Summary
Contemporary writing Anon., The English matron: A practical manual for young wives, (London, 1846). Anon., The English gentlewoman: A practical manual for young ladies on their entrance to society, (Third edition, London, 1846). Becker, L. E.…
Matches: 3 hits
- … work' pp. 124-151. Bernstein, S. D., ‘‘Supposed differences’: Lydia Becker and Victorian …
- … in the enlightenment (London, 2004). Gender, Sex and subordination in England , (Yale, …
- … 2002), pp. 84-117. Laqueur, T., Making sex: Body and gender from the Greeks to Freud …
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: 5 hits
- … and feeling, and between the feared separation caused by differences of belief, and the desired …
- … He kept his views largely to himself, and allowed his differences of belief with Emma to remain for …
- … reading and correspondence does indicate that religious differences were not merely suppressed in …
- … Henrietta Heathorn, a relationship that also incorporated differences in religious belief. …
- … 1871. Descent of man and selection in relation to sex (London: John Murray) Darwin, …
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: 4 hits
- … evolution, Descent of man and selection in relation to sex . He wrote to his indexer, …
- … of the ‘higher’ faculties and his insistence that the differences between humans and other animals …
- … . say of me.’ After the publication of Descent , these differences were raised to a high pitch, …
- … health, and expressed his desire to meet so that their differences might be patched up. He claimed …
Correlation of growth: deaf blue-eyed cats, pigs, and poison
Summary
As he was first developing his ideas, among the potential problems Darwin recognised with natural selection was how to account for developmental change that conferred no apparent advantage. He proposed a ‘mysterious law’ of ‘correlation of growth’ where…
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- … , he went back to Fox to ask specifically about the sex of his deaf white cats . Fox, possibly a …
- … that ‘correlation of growth’ could also explain racial differences in skin colour, but he was never …
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: 4 hits
- … work, The descent of man and selection in relation to sex ( Descent ), published in 1871, and …
- … then proceeded to ask for still more information on sexual differences in mammals and birds. In his …
- … specific about what he wanted, asking for examples of sexual differences that did not relate to …
- … , Müller supplied Darwin with information about sexual differences in crustaceans, spiders, and …
Darwin in letters, 1872: Job done?
Summary
'My career’, Darwin wrote towards the end of 1872, 'is so nearly closed. . . What little more I can do, shall be chiefly new work’, and the tenor of his correspondence throughout the year is one of wistful reminiscence, coupled with a keen eye…
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- … heels of The descent of man and selection in relation to sex , published in 1871, these books …
- … Although the two men were and remained close friends, differences of opinion between Darwin and …
- … terms to publish her work on the effects of nutrition on the sex of butterflies: 'Your …
Discussion Questions and Essay Questions
Summary
There are a wide range of possibilities for opening discussion and essay writing on Darwin’s correspondence. We have provided a set of sample discussion questions and essay questions, each of which focuses on a particular topic or correspondent in depth.…
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- … could not be said in print, and vice versa? Did social differences, such as gender and class, …
- … Tegetmeier, as compared with, e.g., Asa Gray] Did sex matter in Darwin’s scientific exchanges? …
- … Was Darwin’s attitude to his children influenced by their sex? [Henrietta Darwin, William Darwin, …
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: 4 hits
- … He would be grateful for any further observations of differences in structure or habits between …
- … and sends details of his experiments on colour and sex in butterflies. He explains that he will …
- … her experiments on the relationship between butterfly sex and larval feeding time. Letter …
- … Henry Doubleday details his experiments on colour and sex in butterflies and moths, all of which …
Discussion questions
Summary
What sorts of scientific work did women do, and for whom? What sort of assistance do men and women offer, and in what context? Where did women carry out their work? What motivated women to participate in the world of science? What do Darwin'…
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- … what extent do Darwin’s published ideas about gender and sex differences differ from his more …
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
- … at work on the Descent of Man & Selection in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, …
- … [1870]). Despite their increasing theoretical differences, both men worked as they had in …
- … Mivart’s reply, however, underscored their fundamental differences on human ancestry: ‘assuming that …
- … community, placing truth above individual or factional differences. ‘Yes, I dare to say it,’ he …
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Matches: 3 hits
- … until 1870. Further botanical research: investigating sex Despite the demands of …
- … later in the season, he detected two floral forms of each sex and speculated: ‘I cannot help …
- … floras lecture offered a new occasion for airing these differences, and for a reassessment of the …
Darwin’s study of the Cirripedia
Summary
Darwin’s work on barnacles, conducted between 1846 and 1854, has long posed problems for historians. Coming between his transmutation notebooks and the Origin of species, it has frequently been interpreted as a digression from Darwin’s species work. Yet…
Matches: 3 hits
- … & consequently that the diagnosis of species from minute differences is always dangerous. I had …
- … individuals impregnated by parasites simply of the male sex, which you name ‘complemental males,’—a …
- … History) for this information.) ^11^ Although the differences in their metamorphoses and in …
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…
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- … She is investigating whether heredity is limited by sex, particularly when it comes to the …
- … difference in Descent . While she agrees that sexual differences have evolved out of …
