Sorry, no results... Try modifying your search: |
What is an experiment?
Summary
Darwin is not usually regarded as an experimenter, but rather as an astute observer and a grand theorist. His early career seems to confirm this. He began with detailed note-taking, collecting and cataloguing on the Beagle, and edited a descriptive zoology…
Matches: 1 hits
- … experiments with Drosera ( letter to Edward Cresy, 12 December [1860] ). He employed a …
Insectivorous plants
Summary
Darwin’s work on insectivorous plants began by accident. While on holiday in the summer of 1860, staying with his wife’s relatives in Hartfield, Sussex, he went for long walks on the heathland and became curious about the large number of insects caught by…
Matches: 0 hits
Darwin in letters,1866: Survival of the fittest
Summary
The year 1866 began well for Charles Darwin, as his health, after several years of illness, was now considerably improved. In February, Darwin received a request from his publisher, John Murray, for a new edition of Origin. Darwin got the fourth…
Interview with Randal Keynes
Summary
Randal Keynes is a great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, and the author of Annie’s Box (Fourth Estate, 2001), which discusses Darwin’s home life, his relationship with his wife and children, and the ways in which these influenced his feelings about…
Matches: 1 hits
- … be defiant by everyone in the community. 12. The value of suffering …
Dates of composition of Darwin's manuscript on species
Summary
Many of the dates of letters in 1856 and 1857 were based on or confirmed by reference to Darwin’s manuscript on species (DAR 8--15.1, inclusive; transcribed and published as Natural selection). This manuscript, begun in May 1856, was nearly completed by…
Matches: 4 hits
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…
List of correspondents
Summary
Below is a list of Darwin's correspondents with the number of letters for each one. Click on a name to see the letters Darwin exchanged with that correspondent. "A child of God" (1) Abberley,…
Matches: 15 hits
- … (1) Agassiz, Alexander (12) Agassiz, Louis …
- … (1) Berkeley, M. J. (12) Berlin (1) …
- … (1) Gaudry, Albert (12) Geach, F. F. …
- … (3) Geikie, Archibald (12) Geikie, James …
- … (1) Grove, W. R. (12) Groves, Henry …
- … (3) Hooker, F. H. (12) Hooker, Hyacinth …
- … (2) Judd, J. W. (12) Jukes, J. B. (9 …
- … (2) Koch, Eduard (12) Koch, Heinrich …
- … (3) Layton, Charles (12) Le Couteur, John …
- … (1) Mackintosh, Daniel (12) Maclaren, Charles …
- … (1) McLennan, J. F. (12) McNeill, Archibald …
- … (1) Meehan, Thomas (12) Meitzen, August …
- … (9) Rolle, Friedrich (12) Rolleston, George …
- … (1) Whitley, C. T. (12) Whitney, W. D. …
- … (2) Zacharias, Otto (12) Zeuschner, E. L. …
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, 1880: Sensitivity and worms
Summary
‘My heart & soul care for worms & nothing else in this world,’ Darwin wrote to his old Shrewsbury friend Henry Johnson on 14 November 1880. Darwin became fully devoted to earthworms in the spring of the year, just after finishing the manuscript of…
Darwin’s observations on his children
Summary
Charles Darwin’s observations on the development of his children, began the research that culminated in his book The Expression of the emotions in man and animals, published in 1872, and his article ‘A biographical sketch of an infant’, published in Mind…
Matches: 11 hits
- … without a corresponding sensation. D r . Holland[12] informs me children do not learn …
- … each scream approaches it.— 8 Between 11 & 12 weeks old in smiling. I observe he …
- … present when screaming from pain When one day under 12 weeks took hold of Catherines[20] …
- … the first time he used his right hand, was observed 12 weeks & one day whilst violently …
- … it is easy to see, are those of inspiration.— 12 April 20 th .— Took my finger to his …
- … April 4 14wks & 1 day. 11 – 12 May 16 …
- … habit he continued for some months Jan 12 th . He observed, & gave cry of recognition …
- … Anne, on seeing her often kissed self in glass Jan 12 th — observed image in eye.— …
- … Door. the only difference between our door N o 12 and N o 11 is in the slit for the Letter …
- … CD’s original pencil text as closely as possible. [12] Henry Holland. [13] CD wrote …
- … Emma Darwin’s diary, stayed at Upper Gower Street between 12 February and 16 March 1842. [43] …
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…
Darwin in letters, 1877: Flowers and honours
Summary
Ever since the publication of Expression, Darwin’s research had centred firmly on botany. The year 1877 was no exception. The spring and early summer were spent completing Forms of flowers, his fifth book on a botanical topic. He then turned to the…
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…
Science, Work and Manliness
Summary
Discussion Questions|Letters In 1859, popular didactic writer William Landels published the first edition of what proved to be one of his best-selling works, How Men Are Made. "It is by work, work, work" he told his middle class audience, …
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 282 - Darwin to Fox, W. D., [9 - 12 August 1835] Darwin discusses with Fox his …
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…
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…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 9005b - Darwin to Treat, M., [12 August 1873] Darwin thanks Treat for sending over …
The writing of "Origin"
Summary
From a quiet rural existence at Down in Kent, filled with steady work on his ‘big book’ on the transmutation of species, Darwin was jolted into action in 1858 by the arrival of an unexpected letter (no longer extant) from Alfred Russel Wallace outlining a…
Matches: 1 hits
- … require a ‘small volume’ (letter to J. D. Hooker, 12 October [1858] ). Begun while he was in …
2.23 Hope Pinker statue, Oxford Museum
Summary
< Back to Introduction Henry Richard Hope Pinker’s life-size statue of Darwin was installed in the Oxford University Museum on 14 June 1899. It was the latest in a series of statues of great scientific thinkers, the ‘Founders and Improvers of Natural…
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: 1 hits
- … amongst people in general’ ( letter from T. L. Brunton, 12 February 1882 ). Darwin declined the …
Floral Dimorphism
Summary
Sources|Discussion Questions|Experiment Floral studies In 1877 Darwin published a book that included a series of smaller studies on botanical subjects. Titled The different forms of flowers on plants of the same species, it consisted primarily of…
Matches: 1 hits
- … Letter 3757 - Joseph Dalton Hooker to Darwin, 12 October 1862 J. D. Hooker writes to …
