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Darwin’s student booklist
Summary
In October 1825 Charles Darwin and his older brother, Erasmus, went to study medicine in Edinburgh, where their father, Robert Waring Darwin, had trained as a doctor in the 1780’s. Erasmus had already graduated from Cambridge and was continuing his studies…
Matches: 4 hits
- … time without Erasmus, who had moved on to London for further medical training (see letter from E. A. …
- … in 1825. Some of the books are suitable reading for a medical student: John Abernethy was a …
- … the first edition of his Pharmacologia on the History of Medical Substances in 1812; William …
- … about twenty years before the doctor arrived to set up his medical practice. The remaining …
Joseph Simms
Summary
The American doctor and author of works on physiognomy Joseph Simms wrote to Darwin on 14 September 1874, while he was staying in London. He enclosed a copy of his book Nature’s revelations of character (Simms 1873). He hoped it might 'prove…
Matches: 3 hits
- … as a child Simms had been ‘unconsciously drawn to the practice of noting facial and corporeal …
- … John William Draper, founder of the University of New York medical school and author of the conflict …
- … his widow carried out his request of donating his body to medical science. The body was sent to …
Darwin's notes for his physician, 1865
Summary
On 20 May 1865, Emma Darwin recorded in her diary that John Chapman, a prominent London publisher who had studied medicine in London and Paris in the early 1840s, visited Down to consult with Darwin about his ill health. In 1863 Chapman started to treat…
Matches: 3 hits
Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
Summary
Elizabeth Garrett was born in Whitechapel, London. She was initially educated at home but at 13 sent to boarding school. She was always interested in politics and current affairs but decided to pursue a career in medicine at a time when women were excluded…
Darwin’s reading notebooks
Summary
In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to read in Notebook C (Notebooks, pp. 319–28). In 1839, these lists were copied and continued in separate notebooks. The first of these reading notebooks (DAR 119…
Matches: 20 hits
- … in Edin. Encyclop. [Neill 1808] Brit. & Foreign Medical Rev. N o 14. Ap 1839 [Anon. …
- … British Med. Review by D r Forbes [ British and Foreign Medical Review ] Prof. Forbes says …
- … [DAR 119: 7a] 1840 D r . Hollands Medical Notes [Holland 1839]— have added …
- … [Leidy 1853]. (Read) Some paper or Review in a Medical Journal which Hooker has & lent to …
- … Walker, On intermarriage . British and Foreign Medical Review 7: 370–85. *119: 5v. …
- … Anon. 1850. Sanitary economy: its principles and practice; and its moral influence on the …
- … *128: 173; 128: 12 Harlan, Richard. 1835. Medical and physical researches; or, …
- … vols. London. 119: 12b Holland, Henry. 1839. Medical notes and reflections . London. …
- … Library.] *119: 7v.; 119: 7a ——. 1840. Medical notes and reflections . 2d ed. London. …
- … Sir Francis Chantrey; recollections of his life, practice and opinions. London. *119: 21 …
- … encyclopedia of gardening, comprehending the theory and practice of horticulture, …
- … external form, and observations on the principles and practice of breeding . Edinburgh and …
- … the management of landed estates, and the present practice of husbandry in that county . 2 …
- … the management of landed estates, and the present practice of husbandry in the agricultural …
- … reference to the unity of the human species. Charleston Medical Journal 5: 328–44. *128: 165 …
- … to the objections of the Rev. John Bachman. Charleston Medical Journal 5: 755–805. *128: 165 …
- … in animals, and on some collateral subjects. Charleston Medical Journal 6: 373–83. *128: 165 …
- … by a mixture of the Merino blood is deduced from actual practice. London. 119: 14a …
- … pig: a treatise on the breeds, management, feeding, and medical treatment of swine . London. …
- … 205.10: 25–30.] 119: 11a British and Foreign Medical Review . Edited by J. Forbes. …
Darwin and vivisection
Summary
Darwin played an important role in the controversy over vivisection that broke out in late 1874. Public debate was sparked when the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals brought an unsuccessful prosecution against a French physiologist who…
Matches: 7 hits
- … who had performed vivisection on dogs at the British Medical Association congress in Norwich. The …
- … it is degrading to our physiologists to make, and to our medical students to witness, operations …
- … experts Godfrey Lushington and William Shaen, with leading medical men, such as James Paget, and …
- … the crucial role of vivisection for physiological and medical knowledge. It objected to the needless …
- … a certificate signed by the heads of various scientific and medical institutions. Licences could be …
- … groups had formed promoting the total abolition of the practice. Legislation was passed in August …
- … controversy continued. Physiologists and a portion of the medical profession mounted a more …
Life of Erasmus Darwin
Summary
The Life of Erasmus Darwin (1879) was a curious departure for Darwin. It was intended as a biographical note to accompany an essay on Erasmus's scientific work by the German writer Ernst Krause. But Darwin became immersed in his grandfather's…
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: 6 hits
- … as physiology became a profession and an integral part of medical and veterinary training. Darwin …
- … for routine use in the training of researchers and medical doctors, and because it failed to …
- … of eminent physicians, highlighting the tension within the medical profession over the authority of …
- … groups were formed, promoting the total abolition of the practice. ‘It seems to me’, Darwin remarked …
- … 4 June [1876] ). Experimenters and a portion of the medical profession mounted a more organised …
- … authority, and exposed divisions within the scientific and medical communities. As one who had …
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
- … 1874, Darwin had been asked to sign a memorial on the practice of vivisection by the religious …
- … cruel treatment of animals in experimental physiology and medical teaching. Cobbe was an …
- … is evident in the many letters exchanged with physiologists, medical men, and legal experts in April …
- … on the commission, which heard testimony from physiologists, medical educators, and other interested …
- … Francis, who had made the decision in 1873 to abandon his medical studies and work as his father’s …
- … on 27 March , ‘I do not devote myself to the drudgery of medical life and therefore have time for …
Darwin's in letters, 1873: Animal or vegetable?
Summary
Having laboured for nearly five years on human evolution, sexual selection, and the expression of emotions, Darwin was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive powers of sundews and Venus fly traps, and…
Matches: 3 hits
- … this botanical research, eventually renouncing plans for a medical career to become his father’s …
- … Klein at the Brown Animal Sanatory Institution, a centre of medical research in London. On the …
- … Robert Swinhoe wrote from Ning-Po in China about the local practice of inducing tears by tickling …
Wearing his knowledge lightly: From Fritz Müller, 5 April 1878
Summary
Darwin received letters from so many people and wrote so many fascinating letters himself, that it’s hard to choose from many letters that stand out, but one of this editor’s favourites, that always brings a smile, is a letter from Fritz Müller written 5…
Matches: 1 hits
- … a PhD in natural sciences and had completed studies for a medical degree, but refused to take the …
Asa Gray
Summary
Darwin’s longest running and most significant exchange of correspondence dealing with the subjects of design in nature and religious belief was with the Harvard botanist Asa Gray. Gray was one of Darwin’s leading supporters in America. He was also a…
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
About Darwin
Summary
To many of us, Darwin’s name is synonymous with his theory of evolution by natural selection. But even before the publication of On the Origin of Species in 1859, he was publicly known through his popular book about the voyage of the Beagle, and he was…
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…
Charles Harrison Blackley
Summary
You may not have heard of Charles Harrison Blackley (1820–1900), but if you are one of the 15 million people in the UK who suffer from hay fever, you are indebted to him. For it was he who identified pollen as the cause of the allergy. Darwin was…
Darwin in letters, 1876: In the midst of life
Summary
1876 was the year in which the Darwins became grandparents for the first time. And tragically lost their daughter-in-law, Amy, who died just days after her son's birth. All the letters from 1876 are now published in volume 24 of The Correspondence…
Matches: 3 hits
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: 7 hits
- … gist of her counter-argument was that many women were, in practice, already ‘bread winners’, as well …
- … Defence Association’, an organisation made up largely of medical professionals interested in …
- … that the benefits to mankind to be derived from basing the practice of medicine on a solid …
- … expenses, incurred as a result of her struggle to obtain a medical degree at Edinburgh. ‘I have the …
- … our names being added to the General Committee for securing medical education to women. I shall be …
- … incarceration of convicted criminals, even their use in medical experiments. Darwin was partially in …
- … At the time, this was unusual, and it is still not standard practice in editions of letters. In …
Darwin in letters, 1879: Tracing roots
Summary
Darwin spent a considerable part of 1879 in the eighteenth century. His journey back in time started when he decided to publish a biographical account of his grandfather Erasmus Darwin to accompany a translation of an essay on Erasmus’s evolutionary ideas…
Darwin in letters, 1847-1850: Microscopes and barnacles
Summary
Darwin's study of barnacles, begun in 1844, took him eight years to complete. The correspondence reveals how his interest in a species found during the Beagle voyage developed into an investigation of the comparative anatomy of other cirripedes and…
