From G. H. Darwin 28 January 1878
Busirah | El Biar
Jan 28. 78
My dear Father,
I daresay you remember that just before I started Haughton of Dublin sent me a paper in wh. he professed to give some estimate of geological time.1 I have just been reading it & have come to the conclusion that it is utter rubbish, & am doubting whether it is worth while to show it up as it deserves to be.— If someone who understands this sort of thing does not write against it is very likely to be accepted as gospel by the geologists & that wd. be a great pity. On the other hand if I do write I’m pretty sure to get in Haughton’s ill favour because however civilly I may word it a man can’t like to have his work torn to shreds & I don’t think I cd. criticize without utterly demolishing it. Then again it wd. be rather a bore to go in for it as it wd. take a week or so’s work.
I want to know whether you can give me any advice as to whether you think I’d better write a short note on the subject,— also wd it be more civil if I do, to write first to him & thank him for the copy of his paper & say that I don’t agree with it & intend to give him an opportunity of seeing my objections—2
I write my diary letter on another sheet3
Yours affec | G H Darwin
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Haughton, Samuel. 1877. Notes on physical geology.— no. III. On a new method of finding limits to the duration of certain geological periods. [Read 20 December 1877.] Proceedings of the Royal Society of London 26: 534–46.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Summary
Has been reading Samuel Haughton on geological time ["Notes on physical geology, no. III", Proc. R. Soc. Lond. 26 (1877): 534–46]. It is utter rubbish. Asks whether CD thinks GHD should write a critical note on the subject [see Nature 17 (1878): 509–10].
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-11336
- From
- George Howard Darwin
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- El Biar | Algiers
- Source of text
- DAR 210.2: 65
- Physical description
- ALS 3pp
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 11336,” accessed on 8 November 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-11336.xml