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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: 16 hits

  • … Target audience?  | Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's …
  • … works. A set of letters on one of Darwin's publications, Variation under domestication , …
  • … 1869] Becker tells Darwin that she is reading Variation with pleasure and …
  • … education”. Reading Variation Letter 5712 - …
  • … sends Darwin corrections and queries about the text of Variation . He makes comments on …
  • … sends further information for the the second edition of Variation . He is glad to hear …
  • … American naturalist Asa Gray writes Darwin in praise of Variation . He is not surprised at …
  • … Darwin that he has received an English version of Variation and German copies have now been …
  • … in order to correct errors of detail he found on reading Variation . Letter 6126 …
  • … very small way”, writes to Darwin with his thoughts on Variation . He believes that Darwin …
  • … ought to be included in the second edition of Variation . Letter 6237 - …
  • … She notes that Darwin discussed the same phenomenon in Variation and offers to provide …
  • … 1868] John Innes reports that he has read Variation “with great interest”. He does …
  • … impact of Darwin’s theory of “predestination of variation”. Letter 6551 - Becker, L …
  • … Lydia Becker tells Darwin that she is reading Variation with pleasure and wonder. …
  • … with bladders attached as instructed. She is reading Variation and notes that in the …

Variation under domestication

Summary

Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment A fascination with domestication Throughout his working life, Darwin retained an interest in the history, techniques, practices, and processes of domestication. Artificial selection, as practiced by plant and…

Matches: 12 hits

  • … at Harvard University. Pigeons as a window into variation Darwin homed in on pigeons …
  • … of Species , and two chapters on pigeons in The Variation of Plants and Animals Under …
  • … in an effort to understand the process and the extent of variation under domestication. Nonetheless, …
  • … can download the entire packet of reading materials here: Variation under domestication source …
  • … Origin of Species . 1859. London: John Murray. (Chapter I "Variation under domestication" …
  • … know whether the offspring of domestic pigeons show as much variation as their parents do. …
  • … Africa, about his work to collect all facts regarding the variation and origin of species. Darwin …
  • … so that Darwin might add to his store of information on the variation present in domestic species. …
  • … in order that Darwin might add them to his study of the variation of domestic breeds. …
  • … you tell? 3. What is Darwin's primary theory on how variation works under domestication? …
  • … fancier's farm: While studying the importance of variation under domestication to …
  • … other ways to gain an appreciation for the importance of variation under domestication to Darwin’s …

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: 3 hits

  • … She and her work are referenced throughout Variation . Letter 2395 - Darwin …
  • … the Mountain-Ash. Her work appears to be referenced in Variation but her identity is …
  • … observations of pigeons, which he planned to use in Variation . He is unsure whether to state …

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: 21 hits

  • … was also generated by the long-awaited publication of  Variation in animals and plants under …
  • … year reading and correcting proofs. The index of  Variation  had been entrusted to William …
  • … Darwin had entertained many doubts about the success of  Variation , because of its great length …
  • … made immediate arrangements for a second printing. Variation : Commentators and critics …
  • … published a more lengthy four-part series of reflections on variation and descent in the  …
  • … letters on all sorts of subjects In writing  Variation , Darwin had been careful to …
  • … come to him through correspondence. The publication of  Variation  gave rise, in turn, to a great …
  • … of foolish letters on all sorts of subjects.’ The topic of variation in domestic animals seemed to …
  • … of information on cats, pigs, cattle, and poultry for Variation, now extended his knowledge to …
  • … In some cases the opportunities provided by  Variation  for expanding Darwin’s network of …
  • … knowledge, remarking that the person whom Darwin quoted in Variation on the breed ‘was no authority …
  • … factors, not the direct result of natural selection ( Variation  2: 185–9). Wallace seized upon …
  • … from George Bentham, [after 29 September 1868] ). Variation : the reaction in Europe …
  • … was much gratified to receive a presentation copy of  Variation  and a letter from Darwin: ‘It was …
  • … enthusiastic. Friedrich Hildebrand sent his praise for  Variation  on 2 January , and reported …
  • … Italian pathologist, Paolo Mantegazza, who described  Variation  on 19 March as ‘a sublime …
  • … October that his cousin Dyson Lacy was avidly reading  Variation  in Queensland, Australia: ‘Let …
  • … Charles Darwin . Religion in theory . . .  Variation  also brought a renewal of …
  • … God and natural theology. In the concluding paragraphs of  Variation , Darwin had remarked that …
  • … beneficial lines by God. Of Darwin’s discussion in  Variation , Gray wrote on 25 May : ‘I found …
  • … passed easily over Darwin’s concluding paragraphs in  Variation   on 31 August : ‘The …

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: 18 hits

  • … in 1867 was the completion of his large work,  The variation of animals and plants under …
  • … on man’ from the already oversized two-volume  Variation  and instead write a short (as he then …
  • … interest both at home and further afield, and, with  Variation  nearing completion, he received …
  • … the German first edition, the new Russian translation of  Variation  would be based on proof …
  • … Animals and Cultivated Plants, or the Principles of Variation, Inheritance, Reversion, Crossing, …
  • … paragraph throwing doubt on Asa Gray’s doctrine that each variation had been ‘specially ordered or …
  • … by the compositors, and so the book became  The variation of animals and plants under domestication …
  • … Origin  in 1866, would be called upon to translate  Variation . Indeed, he told his publisher, …
  • … in duplicating Trail’s results, Darwin claimed in  Variation  1: 396, that the case apparently …
  • … Darwin wrote in his chapter on pangenesis ( Variation  2: 365). Darwin had developed his …
  • … As the ‘horrid tedious dull work’ of correcting  Variation  went on, Darwin was at the same time …
  • … less favoured males (see  Origin , pp. 156–7). In  Variation , Darwin had discussed changes in …
  • … through sexual selection, but had not elaborated further ( Variation  2: 75). In notes for his …
  • … new research until he had finished correcting proofs of  Variation  and added, ‘when I return to …
  • … Far more thought-provoking, however, was the argument that a variation, no matter how favourable, …
  • … Henrietta Emma Darwin read and corrected proof-sheets of  Variation , and while she was away in …
  • … ). The year ended as it had begun, with letters about  Variation . Darwin wrote to Carus on 10 …
  • … cause of delay lies in the nature of the work itself.’  Variation  was published on 30 January …

Variation published

Summary

Variation under domestication, is published

Matches: 1 hits

  • … Darwin's two-volume work, Variation under domestication , is published.  It is so packed …

5935_4582

Summary

From J. D. Hooker   26[–7] February 1868KewFeby 26th/68Dear Darwin I have been bursting with impatience to hear what you would say of the Athenæum Review & who wrote it— I could not conceive who…

Matches: 9 hits

  • … you & the critic, as to the merits of the “cause of variation”— I should say that both of you …
  • … right as to man not being the prime cause of variation—but in saying this you do not explain …
  • … f1 CD had mistakenly attribtuted a critical review of Variation in the Athenæum to …
  • … pp. 217–18. f3 CD had discussed the review of Variation in the Gardeners’ Chronicle …
  • … or cell of the organism during each stage of development ( Variation 2: 358, 374). f8 …
  • … of an organism, such as the colour of the seed-pods (see Variation 2: 365–6, 387–8). f9 …
  • … be so demoniacal as to write the Athenæum review [of Variation ]. Gardeners’ …
  • … It Athenaum Gardeners’ Chronicle Variation Variation Name Darwin, C. R. …
  • … reception of Darwinism reception of Darwinism sex variation variation wild vs …

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: 10 hits

  • … work on Charles Darwin’s mind was the writing of  The variation of animals and plants under …
  • … his hypothesis of pangenesis, intended for publication in Variation , to Thomas Henry Huxley for …
  • … read to—during all but his worst periods of illness.  Variation , which he had begun in January …
  • … and the commissioning of artists to make woodcuts for  Variation . In March Darwin wrote to …
  • … ). It was not until 25 December that he resumed work on  Variation  where he had left off in April …
  • … of Bengal  (Scott 1867), and Darwin summarised them in  Variation  2: 106–7, concluding, ‘it …
  • … some of the theoretical issues he intended to raise in  Variation . At the end of May, a month in …
  • … the facts he had collected about ‘bud—and seminal—variation, … inheritance, reversion, effects of …
  • … of the 1865 manuscript was published as chapter 27 of  Variation  in 1868. The wider debate …
  • … Darwin finished the year well placed to continue work on  Variation , and with correspondents now …

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: 10 hits

  • … completion of the major part of what was to become  The variation of animals and plants under …
  • … letter to W. D. Fox, 24 August [1866] ). Towards Variation Since the publication …
  • … 16 January [1866] ). Darwin found the evidence of variation in domesticated pigeons the most useful …
  • … addition to the material on pigeons, the first volume of  Variation  included discussions of other …
  • … crossing, sterility, hybridism, and the causes and laws of variation. brimful of my dear …
  • … success. Darwin had originally intended his work on variation to form just two chapters of …
  • … text set in small type. The compilation and writing of  Variation  had been a major task, …
  • … sex Despite the demands of completing  Variation  and preparing a fourth edition of  …
  • … at numerous places in the fifth edition, as well as in  Variation . Darwin continued to read the …
  • … Some of Müller’s observations were added to  Variation , the fifth edition of  Origin , and …

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: 6 hits

  • … much harder book on species, eventually published as The variation of animals and plants under …
  • … to be planted in spring, but he returned to his work on Variation for the winter, his writing …
  • … journal for 1863 resolutely records each chapter of Variation as he finished writing it, but …
  • … ’. Clearly, the seeds of another ‘interruption’ to Variation were well and truly planted. …
  • … over what he referred to as his ‘compiling work’ ( Variation ), a major worry being ‘ not knowing …
  • … almost constant and nearly all work, especially that on Variation , became impossible. His …

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…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … other parts along in their wake.  The chapter on ‘Laws of variation’ in the ‘big book’ he was …
  • … . By the time he came to discuss the phenomenon in Variation, Darwin was forced to …
  • … had now heard of ‘a few authentic exceptions’ ( Variation 2: 329), and still they kept coming …
  • … with ‘correlated variability’, first introduced in Variation and substituted for ‘correlation of …
  • … correlation ’.  ‘In cases of true correlated variation,’ he went on, ‘we are sometimes able to see …
  • … and certainly differs in different cases. . . .  Correlated variation is an important subject for us …
  • … was putting the finishing touches to the second edition of Variation , he went back to Fox to …
  • … possibly the two examples Darwin refers to in the book ( Variation 2d, 2: 322 n. 24).  By this …

Inheritance

Summary

It was crucial to Darwin’s theories of species change that naturally occurring variations could be inherited.  But at the time when he wrote Origin, he had no explanation for how inheritance worked – it was just obvious that it did.  Darwin’s attempt to…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … the hypothesis of Pangenesis  (Charles Darwin, Variation , vol. 2, p. 357). It …
  • … of Pangenesis’, was published in 1868 in his book, Variation of animals and plants under …
  • … kinds are transmitted from generation to generation’ ( Variation , vol. 2, p. 2). He postulated …

Darwin in letters, 1863: Quarrels at home, honours abroad

Summary

At the start of 1863, Charles Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication, anticipating with excitement the construction of a hothouse to accommodate his increasingly varied botanical experiments…

Matches: 7 hits

  • … Darwin was actively working on the manuscript of  The variation of animals and plants under …
  • … pursuits over the summer, and persevered with his work on Variation until 20 July, his letter …
  • … mattered if Lyell had thrown doubt on the significance of variation and natural selection, if only …
  • … brought about by the subordinate agency of such causes as Variation and Natural Selection’. Darwin …
  • … to J. D. Hooker, [22–3 November 1863] ). Writing Variation Many of Darwin’s …
  • … When Darwin finished, by 23 January 1863, a chapter on bud-variation, or sports, he had completed …
  • … [1863] , in which he said he was working very hard at  Variation  and hoped to begin printing in …

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: 3 hits

  • … five days after the publication of his previous book,  Variation in animals and plants under …
  • … Darwin had anticipated. As a result,  Descent , like  Variation , would require two large …
  • … 1870] ). She had previously read proof-sheets of  Variation  and  Orchids , the latter when she …

Expression

Summary

Darwin's interest in emotional expression can be traced as far back as the Beagle voyage. He was fascinated by the different sounds and gestures among the peoples of Tierra del Fuego, and on his return from the voyage he started recording observations…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … conclusions on human evolution in a single chapter in Variation (treating man as a …

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: 4 hits

  • … another chapter of what would eventually be published as Variation , Darwin told Hooker, ‘ I …
  • … results as he was resolved on turning his attention to Variation and a fourth edition of …
  • … his work interrupted only by the need to correct proofs of Variation . By mid-November, he could …
  • … had initially been intended to be the final chapter of Variation , his study of human evolution …

Benjamin Renshaw

Summary

How much like a monkey is a person? Did our ancestors really swing from trees? Are we descended from apes? By the 1870s, questions like these were on the tip of everyone’s tongue, even though Darwin himself never posed the problem of human evolution in…

Matches: 1 hits

  • … in history, Juliana Pastrana, in the second volume of  Variation , although it was for her …

Darwin in letters, 1851-1855: Death of a daughter

Summary

The letters from these years reveal the main preoccupations of Darwin’s life with a new intensity. The period opens with a family tragedy in the death of Darwin’s oldest and favourite daughter, Anne, and it shows how, weary and mourning his dead child,…

Matches: 5 hits

  • … one of the most public proponents of land-bridges. Variation and extinction The other …
  • … ), ‘You ask me what effect studying species has had on my variation theories; … I have been struck … …
  • … Experiments: seeds and bees An interest in variation naturally led Darwin to study the works …
  • … relating to the question of the ultimate sources of variation in organisms. Advised by Robert Hunt, …
  • … is cited in  Natural selection ,  Origin , and  Variation . Selecting poultry, ducks, …

Darwin in letters, 1858-1859: Origin

Summary

The years 1858 and 1859 were, without doubt, the most momentous of Darwin’s life. From a quiet rural existence filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on species, he was jolted into action by the arrival of an unexpected letter from Alfred Russel Wallace…

Matches: 3 hits

  • … for help, providing him with bees and bee-hives. Variation and reversion Darwin also …
  • … this figures prominently in his two-volume work on  Variation  published in 1868 but occupies only …
  • … a naturalist may have adopted with regard to the origin and variation of species, every candid mind …

Darwin in letters, 1875: Pulling strings

Summary

‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants’, Darwin confessed in January 1875. He had worked on the subject intermittently since 1859, and had been steadily engaged on a book manuscript for nine months; January also saw the conclusion of a bitter dispute…

Matches: 6 hits

  • … of another, much longer book, the second edition of Variation . ‘I am merely slaving over the …
  • … publications, Darwin also worked on a second edition of Variation , commencing in June, shortly …
  • … in 1851 on her sister. He had described the case in Variation 2: 14–16, suggesting that such …
  • … of the physician James Paget, he removed the discussion in Variation 2d ed. Hybridity …
  • … or by inserting the eyes of one variety into another ( Variation 2d ed. 1: 420–4, 2: 360). Darwin …
  • … having finished Insectivorous plants , and moved on to Variation 2d ed., Francis signed …
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