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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.…
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- … A short outline of the natural system of classification of plants , (London, 1864). …
- … of England: Their relative duties, domestic influence and social obligations , (London, 1843) …
- … (February, 1876), pp. 382 - 387. ‘ Carnivorous plants of Florida ’, Harper’s New Monthly …
- … Press, 1996). Sheffield, S. L., Women and science: Social impact and interaction , …
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: 25 hits
- … over the sickening work of preparing new Editions Plants always held an important place …
- … Joseph Dalton Hooker, ‘I am getting sick of insectivorous plants.’ Darwin had worked on the subject …
- … another manuscript, the second edition of Climbing plants , which he hoped to publish in a single …
- … of the Linnean sickened him much more than insectivorous plants. As he confessed to Hooker on 12 …
- … on the practice of vivisection by the religious writer and social reformer Frances Power Cobbe. The …
- … it is most painful as I liked the man.’ Poisons, plants, and print-runs Darwin’s …
- … to his research on the digestive properties of insectivorous plants. This work had led to …
- … Indeed, some of the experiments that Darwin performed on plants, such as the application of salts, …
- … of Brunton and Fayrer’s experiments to Insectivorous plants , pp. 206–9, remarking on the …
- … to dozens of eager students.’ The cunning ways in which plants lured insects to their death were …
- … ground Darwin had originally planned Insectivorous plants to be published together with a …
- … text was judged too large for one volume. Climbing plants 2d ed. was delayed until November, …
- … June, shortly after the proof corrections of Insectivorous plants were finished. An …
- … work.’ Romanes bisected root vegetables and tuberous plants, and boasted about a ‘beautifully …
- … February 1875?] ). By May, having finished Insectivorous plants , and moved on to Variation …
- … in women and men, and expressed her frustration at the social constraints that women faced in the …
- … 1875a), and started at once to translate Insectivorous plants (Carus trans. 1876a). The German …
- … Hookers, Darwin hosted many scientific guests and others of social distinction. One of the …
- … with Darwin the previous year about insectivorous plants, and had lent him several tropical …
- … to accompany her presentation copy of Insectivorous plants ( letter to D. F. Nevill, 15 July …
- … umbilical cord was analogous to the spiral form of twining plants (letters from Lawson Tait, 16 …
- … August, he published a favourable review of Insectivorous plants for the Spectator , and took …
- … of his public support for pangenesis and Insectivorous plants , but he had reservations about the …
- … eventually able to resume observational work on his beloved plants, the year did not end quietly. In …
- … and was found at his desk with a copy of Insectivorous plants open beside him, and specimens of …
Scientific Networks
Summary
Friendship|Mentors|Class|Gender In its broadest sense, a scientific network is a set of connections between people, places, and things that channel the communication of knowledge, and that substantially determine both its intellectual form and content,…
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- … both its intellectual form and content, and its material and social effects. In practice, such …
- … classes, nationalities, and professions. He extended the social and geographic range of his contacts …
- … J. S. Henslow has sent some of Darwin’s South American plants to his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
- … Gray on the alpine flora of the USA. He sends a list of plants from Gray’s Manual of botany …
- … have been sent to William Clift. Henslow asks for dried plants (those sent were all of greatest …
- … 1 Apr [1867] Müller thanks Darwin for the “Climbing plants” offprint and for references on …
- … Darwin worked from a position of considerable wealth and social privilege. He also sought knowledge …
- … remarks about Scott. Darwin notes he has finished Climbing plants and is resuming work on …
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: 9 hits
- … was able to devote 1873 almost exclusively to his beloved plants. He resumed work on the digestive …
- … work that would culminate in two books, Insectivorous plants (1875) and Cross and self …
- … of Anton Dohrn’s Zoological Station at Naples. Plants that eat and feel? Darwin had …
- … was the main focus of Darwin’s study of insectivorous plants, a group that also included the Venus …
- … involved not only feeding meat, egg, and gelatine to the plants, but also applying various acids and …
- … nerve is touched … a sensation is felt” ( Insectivorous plants , p. 63). The plants secreted a …
- … ( ibid ., p.18). The research on insectivorous plants involved collaboration with a wide …
- … that had known effects on animals. To test whether the plants had a nerve-like structure, Darwin …
- … Darwin and his family continued to support the church as a social institution. They ran into …
Robert FitzRoy
Summary
Robert FitzRoy was captain of HMS Beagle when Darwin was aboard. From 1831 to 1836 the two men lived in the closest proximity, their relationship revealed by the letters they exchanged while Darwin left the ship to explore the countries visited during the…
Darwin in letters, 1878: Movement and sleep
Summary
In 1878, Darwin devoted most of his attention to the movements of plants. He investigated the growth pattern of roots and shoots, studying the function of specific organs in this process. Working closely with his son Francis, Darwin devised a series of…
Matches: 14 hits
- … I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from radiation …
- … heat loss. ‘I think we have proved that the sleep of plants is to lessen injury to leaves from …
- … Linnaus. But we have killed or badly injured a multitude of plants.’ Movement in plants …
- … through the soil in the shape of an arch ( Movement in plants , pp. 96–7). As usual, staff at the …
- … leaf-stalk: the pulvinus, a cellular mass present in some plants that expands first on one side, …
- … organ rather than to circumnutation (see Movement in plants , pp. 112–13). He explained to …
- … chapter to the sensitivity of the apex in Movement in plants . This was a point on which he …
- … to Francis Darwin, [11 May 1878] ). Having found plants responsive to touch, light, heat, …
- … the observation will prove erroneous) that certain sensitive plants were excited into movement, by a …
- … Francis apparently played the musical instrument to various plants. To confirm the results, Darwin …
- … of sound, but the piercing blast had no effect. ‘The plants, ill-luck to them, are not sensitive to …
- … Francis was away, Darwin sent regular reports about their plants, and longed for conversation: …
- … by higher evolutionary laws. ‘Sympathetic’ and ‘social selection’ would operate through the practice …
- … the Philadelphia Soc. says in a somewhat sneering tone that plants behave differently in one country …
Fake Darwin: myths and misconceptions
Summary
Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, with full debunking below...
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- … Many myths have persisted about Darwin's life and work. Here are a few of the more pervasive ones, …
Darwin in letters, 1874: A turbulent year
Summary
The year 1874 was one of consolidation, reflection, and turmoil for Darwin. He spent the early months working on second editions of Coral reefs and Descent of man; the rest of the year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A…
Matches: 10 hits
- … year was mostly devoted to further research on insectivorous plants. A vicious dispute over an …
- … Darwin excused himself for reasons of health from various social activities, even the opportunity to …
- … (butterwort) for Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants. Amy drew a plant and Francis was …
- … for me’ ( letter to W. D. Fox, 11 May [1874] ). Plants that eat . . . but how? …
- … highly original botanical investigations of insectivorous plants. Even more than his previous …
- … sensitivity, and other ‘animal’-like properties in plants led him to work with physiologists at the …
- … Sanderson to do his own original research on insectivorous plants, and Darwin sent him his notes on …
- … study, he also sought out a variety of other insect-eating plants. The surgeon and botanist John …
- … clandestina ) to be the most wonderful carnivorous plants that she had seen’ ( letter from …
- … Asa Gray publicised Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants in his articles for Nation and …
4.2 Augustus Earle, caricature drawing
Summary
< Back to Introduction The paucity of evidence for Darwin’s appearance and general demeanour during the years of the Beagle voyage gives this humorous drawing of shipboard life a special interest. It is convincingly attributed to Augustus Earle, an…
Matches: 3 hits
- … drew topographical and figure scenes, often featuring the social life of naval officers and lower …
- … He is shown wearing a top hat and tail coat: men of a social rank equivalent to officers in the …
- … also a naturalist and became especially close to Darwin; the plants in his hand and at his feet …
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
- … for the highly select audience of his family and immediate social circle (see Barlow ed. 1958, …
- … writing on hybrid sterility in Variation in animals and plants under domestication (1868); or on …
- … quietly in his study at Down House, avoiding scientific and social controversy, allowing others like …
- … fanciers and gardeners. It included his own family and social circle, and his large network of …
- … Darwin, Charles. 1868. Variation of animals and plants under domestication (London: John Murray) …
Darwin in letters, 1864: Failing health
Summary
On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July 1864: ‘the venerable beard gives the look of your having suffered, and … of having grown older’. Because of poor health, Because of poor health, Darwin…
Matches: 21 hits
- … enough for him to make some observations of dimorphic plants with William’s help; he also ordered a …
- … he finished a preliminary draft of his paper on climbing plants in mid-September, he noted in his …
- … work on the manuscript of The variation of animals and plants under domestication ( Variation …
- … His primary botanical preoccupation in 1864 was climbing plants. He had become interested in …
- … and to his developing research on the origin of climbing plants. In early February, he wrote: ‘I can …
- … of the paper ‘On the movements and habits of climbing plants’ (‘Climbing plants’), which Darwin …
- … to form true tendrils. After observing a variety of climbing plants, he argued that most had …
- … genus Lathyrus as hypothetical examples of climbing plants that had developed into leaf-climbers …
- … to leaves, as in L. nissolia . Darwin wrote (‘Climbing plants’, p. 115): ‘If it be true that …
- … 29 October [1864] that he was continuing to study climbing plants after the completion of his …
- … experiments In addition to his work on climbing plants, Darwin engaged in 1864 in botanical …
- … noticed that the sterility resulting from crosses between plants of the same form was not …
- … highest fertility with around two-thirds of the neighbouring plants, rather than with half, as was …
- … (‘Illegitimate offspring of dimorphic and trimorphic plants’), and later in his 1877 book, The …
- … a household enterprise. Rarely being able to observe plants outside the confines of Down, Darwin …
- … weights and measures, and drew the figures for ‘Climbing plants’. Francis, aged 14, collected …
- … form that has hermaphrodite and female flowers on different plants. Orchids: a growing body …
- … present a picture of a distinctive professional and social hierarchy in place at Kew, and suggest …
- … of collecting in South America, indicates how Darwin’s social contacts were an aid in confirming …
- … of geological findings to the geographic distribution of plants and animals, lay behind the spirited …
- … on finding species in three different families of climbing plants with adhesive disks at the end of …
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.…
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: 5 hits
- … comparative fertility of crosses between differently styled plants ( letter from Fritz Müller, 1 …
- … Darwin wrote, ‘the chief result being that with certain plants the cells of the roots, though not …
- … substances followed from his previous work on insectivorous plants and the physiology of movement. …
- … 19 July 1881 ) was also published in the Journal of Social Science , together with other …
- … ed., pp. 191–2). Darwin was often asked to support social and political causes. He expressed …
British Association meeting 1860
Summary
Several letters refer to events at the British Association for the Advancement of Science held in Oxford, 26 June – 3 July 1860. Darwin had planned to attend the meeting but in the end was unable to. The most famous incident of the meeting was the verbal…
Matches: 13 hits
- … Henslow “On the Final Causes of the Sexuality of Plants, with particular Reference to Mr. …
- … between the two modes by which the multiplication of plants is brought about, the very same …
- … as to the final cause of the existence of sexual organs in plants, as well as in those lower animals …
- … no doubt, may be the dissemination of the species; for many plants, if propagated by buds alone, …
- … in the aspect of Nature, which would have prevailed if plants had been multiplied exclusively by …
- … which it sprang; and hence, by the union of the sexes in plants, some variation from the primitive …
- … by natural selection, the creation of sexual organs in plants might be regarded as intended to …
- … R. DOWDEN, of Cork, mentioned, first, two instances in which plants had been disseminated by seeds, …
- … of society, and individual development the model of social progress, and that both are under the …
- … a fact confirmed by all observation. The remains of animals, plants, and man found in those earliest …
- … He considered that at least one half of the known kinds of plants were disposable in groups, of …
- … characteristics of orders, genera, and species amongst plants differed in degrees only from those of …
- … classification, distribution, structure, and development of plants in a state of nature and under …
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: 3 hits
- … 1874, Darwin was asked to sign a memorial by the writer and social reformer Frances Power Cobbe. It …
- … expression, and in his most recent research on insectivorous plants. Indeed, some of Darwin’s plant …
- … and animals, and suggested that some animals possessed social sympathies akin to conscience. Darwin …
The Letters
Summary
Darwin’s correspondence provides us with an invaluable source of information, not only about his own intellectual development and social network, but about Victorian science and society in general. Letters form the largest single category of Darwin’s…
Darwin in letters, 1856-1857: the 'Big Book'
Summary
In May 1856, Darwin began writing up his 'species sketch’ in earnest. During this period, his working life was completely dominated by the preparation of his 'Big Book', which was to be called Natural selection. Using letters are the main…
Matches: 13 hits
- … his work on domestic animals by conducting experiments on plants. Expanding projects set up during …
- … of Darwin’s conclusions about the variation of animals and plants under domestication were written …
- … manuscript when compiling The variation of animals and plants under domestication (1868) and …
- … source for many of Darwin’s views on domestic animals and plants and this, since it was composed so …
- … how, and in what way variations appeared in animals and plants. Making the fullest possible use of …
- … them on different aspects of the question. Did naturalised plants, he asked Asa Gray, vary in the …
- … to include in his book was the apparent tendency of alpine plants to be more hairy than their …
- … was mistaken: ‘You have shaved the hair off the alpine plants pretty effectually’ complained Darwin …
- … answer. Nor could the botanists that Darwin asked about plants whose flowers seemed consistently to …
- … crossing. The possibility of the cross-fertilisation of plants that grew under water was an equally …
- … show that he was involved with many different experiments on plants through the summers of 1856 and …
- … a series of researches designed to explain how animals and plants might have been transported to …
- … and the ‘Sandwalk’. Like any father of his wealth and social position he was also anxious that his …
Darwin in letters, 1844–1846: Building a scientific network
Summary
The scientific results of the Beagle voyage still dominated Darwin's working life, but he broadened his continuing investigations into the nature and origin of species. Far from being a recluse, Darwin was at the heart of British scientific society,…
Matches: 4 hits
- … meetings and confer with colleagues, and involved in the social and political activities of the …
- … & collecting facts on variation of domestic animals & plants & on the question of what …
- … unexplored by Darwin, even though he had collected plants extensively. Henslow, who had undertaken …
- … and Hitcham and apparently relieved to handover Darwin’s plants to Hooker, who had just returned …
Evolution: Selected Letters of Charles Darwin 1860-1870
Summary
This selection of Charles Darwin’s letters includes correspondence with his friends and scientific colleagues around the world; letters by the critics who tried to stamp out his ideas, and by admirers who helped them to spread. It takes up the story of…
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.…
