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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: 20 hits

  • … |  Editors and critics  |  Assistants Darwins correspondence helps bring to light a
  • community. Here is a selection of letters exchanged between Darwin and his workforce of women
  • Women: Letter 1194 - Darwin to Whitby, M. A. T., [12 August 1849] Darwin
  • peculiarities in inheritance. Letter 3787 - Darwin, H. E. to Darwin, [29 October
  • plants in her garden. Letter 4523 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [6 June 1864] …
  • South Africa. Letter 6736 - Gray, A. & J. L to Darwin, [8 & 9 May 1869] …
  • a trip to Egypt. Letter 7223 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [8 June 1867 - 72] …
  • Darwin's daughter, Henrietta. Letter 7179 - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, [5
  • Letter 3634 - Darwin to Gray, A., [1 July 1862] Darwin tells American naturalist Asa
  • the wallpaper. Letter 5756 - Langton, E. & C. to Wedgwood S. E., [after 9
  • Letter 1701 - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • 3681  - Wedgwood, M. S. to Darwin, [before 4 August 1862] Darwins niece, Margaret, …
  • in Llandudno. Letter 4823  - Wedgwood, L. C. to Darwin, H. E., [May 1865] …
  • Letter 8144 - Darwin to Wedgwood, L. C., [5 January 1872] Darwin asks his niece, …
  • Lychnis diurna. Letter 8168 - Ruck, A. R . to Darwin, H., [20 January 1872] …
  • lawn. Letter 8224 - Darwin to Ruck, A. R., [24 February 1872] Darwin
  • Letter 9606 - Harrison, L. C. to Darwin, [22 August 1874] Darwins niece, Lucy, …
  • Letter 1701  - Morris, M. H. to Prior, R. C. A., [17 June 1855] Margaretta Hare Morris
  • garden ”. Letter 6083  - Casparay, J. X. R. to Darwin, [2 April 1868] …
  • Letter 7858 - Darwin to Wa llace, A. R., [12 July 1871] Darwin tells Wallace that

Have you read the one about....

Summary

... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some serious - but all letters you can read here.

Matches: 1 hits

  • … ... the atheistical cats, or the old fogies in Cambridge? We've suggested a few - some funny, some …

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: 8 hits

  • … Female readership | Reading Variation Darwin's letters, in particular those …
  • … a broad variety of women had access to, and engaged with, Darwin's published works. A set of …
  • … women a target audience? Letter 2447 - Darwin to Murray, J., [5 April 1859] …
  • … that his views are original and will appeal to the public. Darwin asks Murray to forward the …
  • … and criticisms of style. Letter 2461 - Darwin to Hooker, J. D., [11 May 1859] …
  • … it had been proofread and edited by “a lady”. Darwin, E. to Darwin, W. E. , (March 1862
  • … typically-male readers. Letter 7124 - Darwin to Darwin, H. E., [8 February 1870] …
  • … Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. L. B., [8 November, 1869] Darwin writes to feminist …

Science: A Man’s World?

Summary

Discussion Questions|Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth-century women participated in the world of science, be it as experimenters, observers, editors, critics, producers, or consumers. Despite this, much of the…

Matches: 13 hits

  • Discussion Questions | Letters Darwin's correspondence show that many nineteenth
  • Letters Darwins Notes On Marriage [April - July 1838] In these notes, …
  • of family, home and sociability. Letter 489 - Darwin to Wedgwood, E., [20 January 1839] …
  • theories, & accumulating facts in silence & solitude”. Darwin also comments that he has
  • sitting by”. Letter 3715 - Claparède, J. L. R. A. E. to Darwin, [6 September 1862] …
  • are not those of her sex”. Letter 4038 - Darwin to Lyell, C., [12-13 March 1863] …
  • critic”. Letter 4377 - Haeckel, E. P. A. to Darwin, [2 January 1864] Haeckel
  • of feminine works”. Letter 4441 - Becker, L. E. to Darwin, [30 March 1864] …
  • to study nature. Letter 4940 - Cresy, E. to Darwin, E., [20 November 1865] …
  • masculine nor pedantic”. Letter 6976 - Darwin to Blackwell, A. B., [8 November 1869] …
  • natural thinking”. Letter 8079 - Norton, S. R. to Darwin, [20 November 1871] …
  • flood”. Letter 13414 - Darwin to Harrison, L., [18 October 1881] Darwin
  • patience. Letter 13607Darwin to Kennard, C. A., [9 January 1882] Darwin

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: 22 hits

  • In 1865, the chief work on Charles Darwins mind was the writing of  The variation of animals and
  • letters on climbing plants to make another paper. Darwin also submitted a manuscript of his
  • protégé, John Scott, who was now working in India. Darwins transmutation theory continued to
  • Argyll, appeared in the religious weeklyGood Words . Darwin received news of an exchange of
  • Butler, and, according to Butler, the bishop of Wellington. Darwins theory was discussed at an
  • in the  GardenersChronicleAt the end of the year, Darwin was elected an honorary member of
  • year was marked by three deaths of personal significance to Darwin: Hugh Falconer, a friend of
  • in August. There was also a serious dispute between two of Darwins friends, John Lubbock and
  • jolly’ ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 7 January [1865] ). Darwin was ready to submit his paper on
  • a sudden illness. Falconer was 56, almost the same age as Darwin himself. Falconer had seconded
  • Darwin had received a copy of Müllers bookFür Darwin , a study of the Crustacea with reference
  • check one or two points that he did not clearly understand (l etter to Daniel Oliver, 20 October
  • on  Verbascum.  Darwin had suggested to Scott in 1862, when Scott was working at the Royal Botanic
  • vol. 10, letter to John Scott, 19 November [1862] ). Darwin had already written to Hooker of
  • … … inheritance, reversion, effects of use & disuse &c’, and which he intended to publish in
  • disturbing the serenity of the Christian world’ (Brewster 1862, p. 3). John Hutton Balfour, though
  • …  vol. 10, letter from J. H. Balfour, 14 January 1862 ). According to Hooker, Balfours prejudice
  • He wrote to Hooker, ‘I doubt whether you or I or any one c d  do any good in healing this breach. …
  • Hookers behalf, ‘He asks if you saw the article of M r . Croll in the last Reader on the
  • Correspondence vol. 13, CDsJournal’, Appendix I). Wedgwood and Darwin relatives visited Down
  • … ‘As for your thinking that you do not deserve the C[opley] Medal,’ he rebuked Hooker, ‘that I
  • … [1861]: ‘Mamma is in bed with bad Headach.— Miss. L. is very bad with headach.— Lenny has got a

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: 22 hits

  • The year 1870 is aptly summarised by the brief entry Darwin made in his journal: ‘The whole of the
  • in relation to Sex’. Always precise in his accounting, Darwin reckoned that he had started writing
  • gathered on each of these topics was far more extensive than Darwin had anticipated. As a result,  …
  • and St George Jackson Mivart, and heated debates sparked by Darwins proposed election to the French
  • Finishing Descent; postponing Expression Darwin began receiving proofs of some of the
  • … ( letter to Albert Günther, 13 January [1870] ). Darwin was still working hard on parts of the
  • style, the more grateful I shall be’  ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). She had
  • … , the latter when she was just eighteen years of age. Darwin clearly expected her to make a
  • have thought that I shd. turn parson?’ ( letter to H. E. Darwin, [8 February 1870] ). Henrietta
  • so unimportant as the mind of man!’ ( letter from H. E. Darwin, [after 8 February 1870] ). …
  • philanthropist Frances Power Cobbe. At Cobbes suggestion, Darwin read some of Immanuel Kants  …
  • … ( letter to F. P. Cobbe, 23 March [1870?] ). Cobbe accused Darwin of smiling in his beard with
  • as animals: ears Despite Cobbes plea, most of Darwins scientific attention in 1870 was
  • fairy in Shakespeares  A midsummer nights dreamDarwin obtained a sketch of a human ear from
  • of a pointed tip projecting inward from the folded margin. Darwin, who had posed for the sculptor in
  • this volume, letter to Thomas Woolner, 10 March [1870] ). Darwin included Woolners sketch in  …
  • muscles A more troubling anatomical feature for Darwin was the platysma myoides, a band of
  • of fright’, and one of his photographs, later used by Darwin in  Expression , showed a man whose
  • letter from James Crichton-Browne, 15 March 1870 ). Indeed, Darwin noted the same longitudinal
  • family members with infants, including his niece Lucy Wedgwood, who sent a sketch of a babys brows
  • … (in retrograde direction) naturalist’ (letter to A. R.Wallace, 26 January [1870]). …
  • of a pollination mechanism in  Lotus siliquosus  (now  L. maritimus ), a sample of which had

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,…

Matches: 8 hits

  • … activities for building and maintaining such connections. Darwin's networks extended from his …
  • … when strong institutional structures were largely absent. Darwin had a small circle of scientific …
  • … section contains two sets of letters. The first is between Darwin and his friend Kew botanist J. D. …
  • Darwin and Gray Letter 1674 — Darwin, C. R. to Gray, Asa, 25 Apr [1855] Darwin …
  • Darwin and Müller Letter 5457 — Müller, H. L. H. to Darwin, C. R., 23 Mar 1867 …
  • … . Letter 5471 — Darwin, C. R. to Müller, H. L. H., 29 Mar [1867] Darwin learns …
  • … Letter 3800 — Scott, John to Darwin, C. R., [11 Nov 1862] Scottish gardener John Scott notes …
  • … Letter 3805 — Darwin, C. R. to Scott, John, 12 Nov [1862] Darwin thanks Scott for bringing …

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: 26 hits

  • On receiving a photograph from Charles Darwin, the American botanist Asa Gray wrote on 11 July
  • … … of having grown older’. This portrait, the first of Darwin with his now famous beard, had been
  • 52 hours without vomiting!! In the same month, Darwin began to consult William Jenner, …
  • prescribed a variety of antacids and purgatives, and limited Darwins fluid intake; this treatment
  • the dimorphic aquatic cut-grass  Leersia . In May, Darwin finished his paper on  Lythrum
  • thus completing the work he had started on the genus in 1862. His varied botanical observations and
  • he had set aside the previous summer. In October, Darwin let his friends know that on his
  • to the surgeon and naturalist Francis Trevelyan Buckland, Darwin described his symptoms in some
  • November and December were also marked by the award to Darwin of the Royal Societys Copley Medal; …
  • been unsuccessfully nominated the two previous years. As Darwin explained to his cousin William
  • it was conferred, brought a dramatic conclusion to the year. Darwin also wrote to Fox that he was
  • progressin Britain. Challenging convention Darwins concern about the acceptance of
  • …  vol. 11). In a letter of [27 January 1864] , Darwin wrote to Hooker: ‘The only approach to work
  • …  produce tendrils However, the queries that Darwin, describing himself asa broken-down
  • to have the tendrils then revert to leaves, as in  L. nissolia . Darwin wrote (‘Climbing plants’, …
  • modified in the course of ages, we may conclude that  L. nissolia  is the result of a long series
  • between the two different forms. His research on  L. salicaria  suggested an even more intricate
  • garden, taking notes by dictation. His niece Lucy Caroline Wedgwood sent observations of  …
  • act. In his ongoing quest to confirm the statement in his 1862 book on orchids that natureabhors
  • Scott, a gardener at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, in 1862 with a letter regarding the
  • at odds with one another: ‘Gardeners are the very dl, & where two or three are gathered
  • 5 September 1864 ). Fritz Müeller sent his bookFür Darwin , and Darwin had it translated by a
  • and Book of Joshua critically examined  (Colenso 186279). After reading extracts from Colensos
  • Correspondence vol. 10, letter to Asa Gray, 6 November [1862] ). A declaration that Erasmus
  • but Lyell says when I read his discussion in the Elements [C. Lyell 1865] I shall recant for fifth
  • on intellectual &ampmoral  qualities’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 28 [May 1864] ). …

Darwin in letters, 1860: Answering critics

Summary

On 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwin’s Origin of species, printing off another 3000 copies to satisfy the demands of an audience that surprised both the publisher and the author. It wasn't long, however, before ‘the…

Matches: 26 hits

  • 7 January 1860, John Murray published the second edition of Darwins  Origin of species , printing
  • surprised both the publisher and the author. One week later Darwin was stunned to learn that the
  • But it was the opinion of scientific men that was Darwins main concern. He eagerly scrutinised each
  • his views. ‘One cannot expect fairness in a Reviewer’, Darwin commented to Hooker after reading an
  • … ( letter to J. D. Hooker, 3 January [1860] ). Darwins magnanimous attitude soon faded, …
  • butunfairreviews that misrepresented his ideas, Darwin began to feel that without the early
  • it was his methodological criticism in the accusation that Darwin haddeserted the inductive track, …
  • to J. S. Henslow, 8 May [1860] ). Above all else Darwin prided himself on having developed a
  • was a hypothesis, not a theory, therefore also displeased Darwin. Comparing natural selection to the
  • it comes in time to be admitted as real.’ ( letter to C. J. F. Bunbury, 9 February [1860] ). This
  • issue of  Macmillans Magazine . Fawcett asserted that Darwins theory accorded well with John
  • induction, ratiocination, and then verification. Darwin and his critics Specific
  • Several correspondents, such as his cousin Hensleigh Wedgwood and Heinrich Georg Bronn, expressed
  • the origin of life itself, which the theory did not address. Darwin chose to treat this as an
  • things, about the multitude of still living simple forms. Darwin readily admitted that his failure
  • it into his method of reasoning about global change. Darwin also knew that Lyell was a powerful
  • of the origin and distribution of blind cave animals. Darwin attempted to answer each of these
  • to one another. Harveys letters reveal aspects of Darwins theory that gave contemporary
  • discomfort. After several long letters were exchanged, Darwin finally decided that Harvey and other
  • whose offspring should be infertileinter se ,’ Darwins theory would remain unproven (T. H. …
  • among animal groups could give rise to new species, Darwin found Huxleys lecture irritating and
  • because more accustomed to reasoning As Darwin himself well recognised and fully
  • relatively advanced forms of life. Many singled out Darwins own discussion of the absence of
  • because more accustomed to reasoning.’ ( letter to A. R. Wallace, 18 May 1860 ). Darwin
  • next year and published the results of the orchid study in 1862. Back to the origin of sex: …
  • He presented the results of his study in a paper of 1862 and in  The different forms of flowers on

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: 28 hits

  • In April 1838, Darwin began recording the titles of books he had read and the books he wished to
  • … (DAR 119) opens with five pages of text copied from Notebook C and carries on through 1851; the
  • used these notebooks extensively in dating and annotating Darwins letters; the full transcript
  • … *128). For clarity, the transcript does not record Darwins alterations. The spelling and
  • book had been consulted. Those cases where it appears that Darwin made a genuine deletion have been
  • a few instances, primarily in theBooks Readsections, Darwin recorded that a work had been
  • of the books listed in the other two notebooks. Sometimes Darwin recorded that an abstract of the
  • own. Soon after beginning his first reading notebook, Darwin began to separate the scientific
  • to be Read [DAR *119: Inside Front Cover] C. Darwin June 1 st . 1838
  • de la Folie des Animaux de ses Rapports avec celle de lHomme,” by Dr. Pierquin, published in Paris
  • …  [Pierquin de Gembloux 1839]. Said to be good by D r  L. Lindsay 5 [DAR *119: 1v.] …
  • Cuvier 1822] read Flourens Edit [Flourens 1845] read L. Jenyns paper on Annals of Nat. Hist. …
  • … [DAR *119: 2v.] Whites regular gradation in man [C. White 1799] Lindleys
  • 8 vo  p 181 [Latreille 1819]. see p. 17 Note Book C. for reference to authors about E. Indian
  • Hist. genérale et Particulière des Anomalies de lorganization des hommes & des Animaux by Isid. …
  • in brutes Blackwood June 1838 [J. F. Ferrie 1838]. H. C. Watson on Geog. distrib: of Brit: …
  • Wiegman has pub. German pamphlet on crossing oats &c [Wiegmann 1828] Horticultural
  • in Library of Hort. Soc. [DAR *119:5v.] M c .Neil 16  has written good article
  • on the Dog with illustrations of about 100 varieties [?C. H. Smith 183940] 24 Flourens
  • … [Lindley 1840]— Chapter on Races improvement of &c &c important I should think
  • … [Fellows 1839] Catherine 48 Life of Collins R.A. [Collins 1848] Phases of Faith
  • du rire. In8A. Durand . 3 fr. 117  [Dumont 1862] Goethe. — Œuvres dhistoires
  • … (Liebig 1851). 50  Probably Elizabeth Wedgwood. 51  This note is a
  • 1848Memoirs of the life of William   Collins, Esq., R.A.  2 vols. London.  *119: 23; 119: …
  • … à Buffon.) Paris.  *119: 14v. Dumont, Léon. 1862Des causes du rire.  Paris.  *128: …
  • by Richard Owen.  Vol. 4 of  The works of John Hunter, F.R.S. with notes . Edited by James F. …
  • Robert. 1843Memoirs of the life of John   Constable, R.A., composed chiefly of his letters. …
  • Peacock, George. 1855Life of Thomas Young, M.D., F.R.S.  London.  *128: 172; 128: 21