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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…

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…
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- … Francis also purchased a gift for his son Bernard (nearly 3 years old and variously called Abbadubba …
- … progress with all the pride of a fond grandfather. On 3 June, he wrote , ‘Bernard has been very …
- … they mean by God—.’ Undaunted, Mengden wrote again on 3 June to ask Darwin, ‘what definition of …

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…
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- … & hurrah for my species-work’ ( Correspondence vol. 3, letter to J. D. Hooker, [5 or 12 …
- … in the side of É de B.’ (letter to Charles Lyell, 3 January 1850 ). Barnacles Over …
- … of Balanus , drawings of which are preserved in DAR 29.3 (Plate 20, figs 1–13) and reproduced in …
- … very well. Very methodical in all my habits.’ ( LL 3: 179) …
Interview with Pietro Corsi
Summary
Pietro Corsi is Professor of the History of Science at the University of Oxford. His book Evolution Before Darwin is due to be published in 2010 by Oxford University Press. Date of interview: 17 July 2009 Transcription 1: Introduction …
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- … traditions, [were] enormously free. 3. Clerical engagement with early …

Sexual selection
Summary
Although natural selection could explain the differences between species, Darwin realised that (other than in the reproductive organs themselves) it could not explain the often marked differences between the males and females of the same species. So what…
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- … whenever I gaze on it, makes me sick! ( To Asa Gray, 3 April [1860] ) Bernard Peirce …
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…

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…
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…
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- … talking about inhaling <Ni>tric Oxide? (DAR 19: 3–4) Darwin’s student …
- … 2 2 Vol. 8 Vo Abernethy Physi. Lectures 3 1 Vol. Scoresby account of Polar …
- … in number Blairs lectures on Belles Lettres. 8 3 Vol. 8Vo Abernethy Hunterian orat …
- … essays in Rambler 19 Brambletye House 20 3 Vos 12 mo Clarkes travels 21 5 …
- … 1823. 8 Vo: octavo. 2 Cochrane 1825. 3 Abernethy 1822. There is a lightly …
- … perhaps refers to Abernethy 1819b and Abernethy 1823 (see n. 3). 10 White 1826. 12 mo: …
- … Lectures on rhetoric and belles letters . 4th edition. 3 vols. London: A. Strahan and T. Cadell; …
- … Travels in various countries of Europe, Asia and Africa . 3 pts in 6 vols. London. Cochrane, …
Volume appendices
Summary
Here is a list of the appendices from the print volumes of the Correspondence of Charles Darwin with links to adapted online versions where they are available. Appendix I in each volume contains translations of letters in foreign languages and these can…
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- … 3 III Darwin’s notes arising from …

Natural Science and Femininity
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters A conflation of masculine intellect and feminine thoughts, habits and feelings, male naturalists like Darwin inhabited an uncertain gendered identity. Working from the private domestic comfort of their homes and exercising…
Darwin as mentor
Summary
Darwin provided advice, encouragement and praise to his fellow scientific 'labourers' of both sexes. Selected letters Letter 2234 - Darwin to Unidentified, [5 March 1858] Darwin advises that Professor C. P. Smyth’s observations are not…
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- … Letter 8140 - Darwin to Darwin, W. E., [3 January 1872] Darwin congratulates his son for …
4.24 'Daily Graphic', Nast satire
Summary
< Back to Introduction In 1874 the Harvard philosopher John Fiske published his magnum opus, Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy, in which he set out to explain the far-reaching significance of Darwin’s and Herbert Spencer’s evolutionary theories. He…
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4.7 'Vanity Fair', caricature
Summary
< Back to Introduction A letter to Darwin from his publisher John Murray of 10 May 1871 informed him, ‘Your portrait is earnestly desired – by the Editor of Vanity Fair. I hope Mr Darwin may consent to follow the example of Murchison – Bismark [sic] …
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Moral Nature
Summary
In Descent of Man, Darwin argued that human morality had evolved from the social instincts of animals, especially the bonds of sympathy and love. Darwin gathered observations over many decades on animal behavior: the heroic sacrifices of social insects,…
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,…

Before Origin: the ‘big book’
Summary
Darwin began ‘sorting notes for Species Theory’ on 9 September 1854, the very day he concluded his eight-year study of barnacles (Darwin's Journal). He had long considered the question of species. In 1842, he outlined a theory of transmutation in a…

Darwin and working from home
Summary
Ever wondered how Darwin worked? As part of our For the Curious series of simple interactives, ‘Darwin working from home’ lets you explore objects from Darwin’s study and garden at Down House to learn how he worked and what he had to say about it. And not…
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Origin: the lost changes for the second German edition
Summary
Darwin sent a list of changes made uniquely to the second German edition of Origin to its translator, Heinrich Georg Bronn. That lost list is recreated here.
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- … Page xiv, n., line 7, insert after ‘long afterwards.’: 3 He has …
- … ‘in the years 1794–5’. Page xviii, par. 3, line 9, insert after ‘continued reproduction.’’ …
- … given no answer’. 21 Page 222, par. 1, line 3, substitute for ‘on high authority’: 22 …
- … low water mark seem to be rarely preserved. Page 334, par. 3, line 3, substitute for ‘not …
- … these can be called truly oceanic islands) Page 363, par. 3, line 15, insert after ‘life.’ …

Darwin on childhood
Summary
On his engagement to his cousin, Emma Wedgwood, in 1838, Darwin wrote down his recollections of his early childhood. Life. Written August–– 1838 My earliest recollection, the date of which I can approximately tell, and which must have been before…

Biodiversity and its histories
Summary
The Darwin Correspondence Project was co-sponsor of Biodiversity and its Histories, which brought together scholars and researchers in ecology, politics, geography, anthropology, cultural history, and history and philosophy of science, to explore how…
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- … the conservation movement Session 3: Values of Diversity Chair: Helen Anne …