Darwin's Mentor: John Stevens Henslow, 1796-1861 (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Darwin's Mentor: John Stevens Henslow, 1796–1861 Richard Bellon (bio) Darwin's Mentor: John Stevens Henslow, 1796–1861, by S. M. Walters and E. A. Stow; pp. 338. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, 2001, £42.50, $65.00. Poor John Stevens Henslow—relegated to the subtitle of his own biography! While giving Charles Darwin marquee position makes clear marketing sense, the title highlights the least compelling part of this enjoyable and informative biography [End Page 508] of the nineteenth-century University of Cambridge botany professor and Anglican clergy- man. As S. M. Walters and E. A. Stow rightly insist, theirs is "a book about an admirable man whose qualities have been overshadowed, even distorted, by the reputation of his most famous pupil" (3). While they effectively retell the familiar story of the young Darwin's tutelage, the real strength of their book lies in the insight it gives into scientific, academic, and clerical life at a time of vast social transformation in Britain. Henslow's career embodies the frequently awkward and frustrating evolution of British natural history into a rigorous and highly technical professional science. When Henslow was born in 1796, the few scientific posts in existence were mostly shameless sinecures. That year, Thomas Martyn delivered his final lecture as Cambridge's professor of botany but retained the chair (and its salary) for three absentee decades. Even when actively residing in Cambridge, Martyn by his own admission treated botany as little more than gentlemanly amusement. When Henslow assumed the chair in 1825 (after a brief stint as mineralogy professor), he did not reinvigorate Cambridge botany so much as create it anew. His chief qualification for the chair was enthusiasm rather than expertise. "When appointed to the Botanical Chair I knew very little indeed about Botany," he later acknowledged, ". . . though I probably knew as much of the subject as any other resident in Cambridge" (110). Henslow took his professorial responsibilities seriously. With fellow dons Adam Sedgwick, the geology professor, and William Whewell, the polymathic future Master of Trinity College, Henslow vociferously promoted science education as an integral part of general university reform. Henslow's long support for liberal university reforms yielded significant results, even if some of his causes, such as the abolition of religious tests for degrees, would only be achieved after his death. A notable early success was the 1831 reform that required medical students to attend lectures and pass examinations in botany, chemistry, and anatomy. Ironically, the briefly rising attendance in Henslow's course soon dipped again after another reform, the ending of the Oxbridge monopoly on fellows of the Royal College of Physicians in 1835. His teaching was diligent, cordial, thorough, and methodical. While his own research betrayed little theoretical aptitude, his teaching emphasized the necessity of approaching scientific questions from a broad "philosophical" perspective. Darwin was among many who learned the value of careful scientific generalization at Henslow's side. Henslow's flourishing academic career stalled suddenly at the end of the 1830s as the result of far-reaching changes in the Church of England. When Henslow was ordained in 1824, about half of the parishes in England had a nonresident incumbent. Henslow, like so many of his Oxbridge colleagues with a country living, contributed to this pattern of absenteeism. For years he employed a curate for day-to-day parish duties and devoted most of his time and energy to Cambridge. Both the Church and laity were increasingly losing tolerance for such lackadaisical practices and Henslow found himself caught between the increased professional conscientiousness of science, on the one hand, and of the Church on the other. He took the rich living of Hitcham, Suffolk, in 1837 with no intention of abandoning his Cambridge residence, although he did spend most weekends in the parish. This lasted two years. Hitcham was desperately poor, and Henslow realized that he could not possibly fulfill his social and spiritual duties to his many destitute parishioners on a part-time basis. In 1839, he scrupulously gave priority to [End Page 509] his religious duties and moved permanently to Hitcham, returning to Cambridge only for his Easter Term lectures and when other unavoidable business demanded. The...