Darwin's Life Research Articles

Narratives of Charles Darwin Down Under

Despite the fact that Charles Darwin spent several months in Australia in the final year of his Beagle voyage that circumnavigated the globe, most studies that deal with Darwin's life or his discovery of evolution spend little time discussing his Australian period, if it is mentioned at all. His time there is largely deemed to have produced little of significance in comparison to his visits to other places such as the Galápagos Islands, which has long been mythologized as providing the key sources of observable data that ultimately led Darwin to develop his evolutionary speculations. In recent years, however, Darwin's period in Australia has received more attention, most notably a series of studies detailing the observations and connections Darwin made while in New South Wales, Tasmania, and King George Sound. While much of this literature has provided an important corrective to previous Darwin scholarship that had largely ignored Darwin's period in Australia, it has also worked to perpetuate a romantic and heroic view of scientific discovery by suggesting that Darwin's key “evolutionary revelation” was made not in the Galápagos Islands but in the Blue Mountains, a claim that has been recently made in print and online. This paper therefore examines the historical literature on Darwin Down Under, focussing in particular on this recent romantic turn that seeks to situate Australia as the key site of inspiration for Darwin's theory of evolution.

Evolution

Book Review| October 01 2017 Evolution Darwin's Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory. By James Costas. 2017. W.W. Norton. (ISBN 978-0393239898). 496 pages. Hardback. $27.95. Amanda Glaze Amanda Glaze 1Assistant Professor of Teaching & Learning Georgia Southern University PO BOX 8134 Statesboro, GA 30458 aglaze@georgiasouthern.edu. Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar The American Biology Teacher (2017) 79 (8): 681–682. https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.8.681b Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation Amanda Glaze; Evolution. The American Biology Teacher 1 October 2017; 79 (8): 681–682. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/abt.2017.79.8.681b Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentThe American Biology Teacher Search When we mention Darwin in classes, what generally comes to students’ minds is imagery of finches, shells, and tortoises in the tropics or perhaps simply the word “evolution.” Darwin's Backyard takes understanding Darwin and evolution to the next level, building upon general knowledge of Darwin's life and contribution to evolutionary theory by exploring in depth the scientific thinking and explorations in which he engaged in his search for answers. For any reader interested in the story behind the theorizing, this book is essential. For each of the ten chapters in this book, there is a focused story surrounding the life and mind of Charles Darwin, as expected, covering everything from the early years before the voyage of the HMS Beagle to his more intimate home studies of seeds, worms, and other elements with which many are not as familiar. What sets this volume apart from a general history is the... You do not currently have access to this content.

A Reflection on the legacies of Charles Darwin

The biological theory of human evolution existed before Charles Darwin. His view on the origins of animals attracted much debate among scientists and Chris-tians since 1859. Darwin’s view on the causes of variation among species which led to the emergence of humans has contributed to the development of an ideology according to which he is the father of evolution. This research is a historical reflection on Darwin’s life and his theory of evolution. The author describes the views that existed and still exist as responses to Darwin's life and his theory of evolution. The research is aimed at appreciating Darwin’s legacies and his contribution to the development of the various schools of thoughts among Christians regarding the creation/evolution debate.

The impact of A. R. Wallace's Sarawak Law paper reassessed

This article examines six main elements in the modern story of the impact of Alfred Russel Wallace's 1855 Sarawak Law paper, particularly in the many accounts of Charles Darwin's life and work. These elements are:1It was Wallace's first avowal of evolution.2Wallace laid out the theory of evolution minus only a “mechanism”.3Darwin failed to see how close Wallace was approaching.4Lyell did see how close Wallace was approaching.5Lyell urged Darwin to publish because of Wallace.6Darwin wrote to Wallace to warn him off his patch.Each of these are very frequently repeated as straightforward facts in the popular and scholarly literature. It is here argued that each of these is erroneous and that the role of the Sarawak Law paper in the historiography of Darwin and Wallace needs to be revised.

Book Review: Ask the Beasts: Darwin and the God of Love

Ask Beasts: Darwin and God of Love. By Elizabeth A. Johnson. London: Bloomsbury, 2014. xvii + 323 pp. $32.95 (cloth).Taken as a whole, Elizabeth Johnson's of work can be read as a prismatic attempt to develop a doctrine of trinitarian God who seeks full flourishing of all life. Johnson has pursued this work because, as she first put it in her groundbreaking 1992 book, She Who Is, she wants us to perceive that the of God functions. Although reality of God always exceeds human thought (which is why she writes of symbol of God rather than simply of God), how we imagine God to be, Johnson thinks, informs kind of Christians we are and, accordingly, kind of world we create. Johnson has now added one more facet to this ongoing project in Ask Beasts: Darwin and God of Love. Here, she asks what focusing our attention on God as Creator contributes to our theology of God.Logically enough, Johnson thinks that it only makes sense, when inquiring about character of Creator, to consider creation as significant theological data. This does not mean producing a natural theology. Instead of reading a doctrine of God from world, she examines extents to which scientifically described qualities of world we inhabit are both consonant with and pose challenges to scripture, tradition, and practice of Christian faith. What, she wonders, are theological implications of what science is teaching us about our cosmos? After a lengthy, detailed, and nuanced appreciation of Darwin's life and work, Johnson spends balance of book elaborating several trajectories for further consideration. NeoDarwinian understandings of evolution, contemporary cosmology, genetics, and theoretical physics combine to paint a picture, when rendered using a theological palette, of a creation established and mysteriously sustained by a God of infinite love who has endowed that creation with freedom to realize itself in an open, undetermined manner, over barely imaginable eons of time. In this portrait of creation, chance and contingency provide opportunities for life to emerge in ever-greater complexity, carried forward and mysteriously informed (but not determined) by breath of life that is Holy Spirit. The Christian God is life-giver: God who creates, sustains, and redeems out of unalloyed love that this God is.The matter that composes creation described by science is neither relatively neutral stuff' of scientific materialism nor evil flesh of gnosticizing currents that have historically tended to denigrate body over soul or spirit in Christianity. …

Darwinism in Context: An interdisciplinary, highly contextualized course on nature of science

Summary In this article, we describe a course, titled Darwinism in Context , which focuses on the social, cultural and scientific influences on the development of Darwin's theory. This was an interdisciplinary, highly contextualized nature of science course that aimed to help students learn about a core nature of science aspect: that there are historical, cultural and social influences on the practice and directions of science. For this purpose, the course was based on a well-documented historical case study: the development of Darwin's theory. The course consisted of five classes that focused on: (a) Victorian society, (b) the views and beliefs of scholars that had an impact on Darwin's thinking (historical influences), (c) aspects of Darwin's personal and social life that influenced the publication of his theory (social influences), (d) the reception of Darwin's theory and the relationship between religion and science (cultural influences) and (e) the relationship between science and literature. In all cases, teaching included presentations of the historical events but was mostly based on the analysis and discussion of excerpts from the respective original writings. During the classes only a few examples were presented; students were motivated to study further the original writings and identify some key concepts and ideas after the classes. It is concluded that this kind of highly contextualized nature of science instruction can provide students with a more authentic view of science.

The London Baedeker for the Darwin enthusiast

Public interest in Charles Darwin and in scientific climate of the Victorian era continues to grow. Darwin hobbyists are visiting sites around the world relevant to the life of Charles Darwin: The Galapagos Islands, Tierra del Fuego, Scotland and, of course, his native England. But as even as the number of Darwin enthusiasts continues to swell, there are few handbooks available to guide visitors through sites relevant to his life. Here I describe my experiences traveling through London in search of the sites relevant to Darwin's life. I give a general review of each historic site and describe what travelers might expect to find. I also offer some background history to each of the locations, and describe how each site relates to Darwin and his works.

The ‘Annie Hypothesis': Did the Death of His Daughter Cause Darwin to ‘Give up Christianity’?

This article examines one of the most widely believed episodes in the life of Charles Darwin, that the death of his daughter Annie in 1851 caused the end of Darwin's belief in Christianity, and according to some versions, ended his attendance of church on Sundays. This hypothesis, it is argued, is commonly treated as a straightforward true account of Darwin's life, yet there is little or no supporting evidence. Furthermore, we argue, there is sufficient evidence that Darwin's loss of faith occurred before Annie's death.

Charles Darwin (review)

Reviewed by: Charles Darwin Elizabeth Bush Krull, Kathleen. Charles Darwin; illus. by Boris Kulikov. Viking, 2010. 144p. (Giants of Science) ISBN 978-0-670-06335-2 $15.99 R Gr. 5-8. Did you think you were done collecting Darwin books by the end of 2009? Make room on the shelf for the latest entry in the Giants of Science series, which focuses this time on, as Krull frequently reminds her readers, a really all-around nice guy. Sans wild hair, bizarre personality traits, or even a conspicuous air of genius, Darwin has little to recommend him in the quirkiness department apart from a large nose (of which he was embarrassed) and chronic stomach problems. Krull therefore wisely plays his strong suits here—keen observation; patient, deliberative thought; engaging, accessible writing; respect for fellow scientists; devotion to his family—and succeeds in portraying, well, a really all-around nice guy whose affability and humility never hobbled his dogged pursuit of truth, wherever it led. And it led, famously, to the controversial On the Origin of Species, which generated uproar that segued rather speedily into the fundamental theory of the mechanism of evolution. Kulikov once again ably supports Krull's text, offering playful illustrations that lightheartedly illuminate some corner of Darwin's life or create a symbolic image that impresses a concept into the reader's memory, e.g., Darwin scratching in his notebook while perched on a limb of his Tree of Life. Readers who favor the flow of a novel in nonfiction works but aren't quite up to Deborah Heiligman's Charles and Emma (BCCB 2/09) will find this quick read as easygoing as its subject. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

O show de Darwin

As comemorações dos 200 anos de nascimento de Charles Darwin revelaram menos sobre a figura histórica do cientista vitoriano do que sobre o lugar da ciência e do cientista na cultura moderna. O artigo explora os eventos do "Dia de Darwin" e a produção recente sobre o "pai da teoria da evolução" com a intenção de ligá-los à recepção contemporânea da obra (e da figura) de Charles Darwin.

The Darwin of pangenesis

The Darwin of pangenesis is very much another Darwin. Pangenesis is Darwin's comprehensive theory of generation, his theory about all sexual and asexual modes of reproduction and growth. He never explicitly integrated pangenesis with his theory of natural selection. He first formulated pangenesis in the 1840s and integrated it with the physiology, including the cytology, of that era. It was, therefore, not consilient with the newer cytology of the 1860s when he published it in 1868. By reflecting on the role of pangenesis in Darwin's life and work, we can learn to take a wider view of his most general theorising about animal and plant life.

Darwin's Emotions: The Scientific Self and the Sentiment of Objectivity

Darwin's emotional life has been a preoccupation of biographers and popularizers, while his research on emotional expression has been of keen interest to anthropologists and psychologists. Much can be gained, however, by looking at Darwin's emotions from both sides, by examining the relationship between his emotional experience and his scientific study of emotion. Darwin developed various techniques for distancing himself from his objects of study and for extracting emotional "objects" from feeling subjects. In order to investigate emotions scientifically, his own emotional life, his feelings for others, had to give way-or did it? This question has implications well beyond the life of Darwin, moral implications about the effects of scientific discipline on those who practice it and on the animals and people subjected to it. This dual approach to Darwin's emotions also allows us to address a conundrum of recent histories of "objectivity"--namely, the status of the scientific self as a feeling subject.

Gene Banks for a Warming Planet

The bicentenary of Charles Darwin's life and work reminds us that the great biodiversity on Earth underlies natural selection, selective breeding, and the biotechnologies required to provide humanity with food, fiber, fodder, and fuels. In particular, biodiversity affords the development of plant varieties with novel genetic combinations, which will be required to meet the challenges arising from adverse alterations in temperature, precipitation, sea level, and the frequency of drought and floods—all of which are anticipated from human-induced climate change. The loss of each gene and species therefore limits our options for the future.

The young Charles Darwin

What sort of person was the young naturalist who developed an evolutionary idea so logical, so dangerous, that it has dominated biological science for a century and a half? How did the quiet and shy Charles Darwin produce his theory of natural selection when many before him had started down the same path but failed? This book is the first to inquire into the range of influences and ideas, the mentors and rivals, and the formal and informal education that shaped Charles Darwin and prepared him for his remarkable career of scientific achievement. Keith Thomson concentrates on Darwin's early life as a schoolboy, a medical student at Edinburgh, a theology student at Cambridge, and a naturalist aboard the Beagle on its famous five-year voyage. Closely analyzing Darwin's Autobiography and scientific notebooks, the author draws a fully human portrait of Darwin for the first time: a vastly erudite and powerfully ambitious individual, self-absorbed but lacking self-confidence, hampered as much as helped by family, and sustained by a passion for philosophy and logic. Thomson's account of the birth and maturing of Darwin's brilliant theory is fascinating for the way it reveals both his genius as a scientist and the human foibles and weaknesses with which he mightily struggled.

A vision of humanity united

A controversial new reconstruction of Charles Darwin's life suggests his family's campaign against slavery influenced his belief that all humans evolved from a single ancestor, explains W. F. Bynum. The second of Nature's three Darwin 200 special issues celebrates 'everybody's Darwin' — the great man's legacy in the context of the human condition. The sequencing of the human genome and those of our animal relatives has broadened our understanding of the evolution of our species and the unity of the living word. Genomics has identified many sequences that are under selection, but they do not provide the simple read-out of human evolutionary history that some expected. Erika Check Hayden talks to geneticists who are coming to realize that they cannot interpret these sequences without considering the impact of human culture. Donald Brown's 1991 book Human Universals concentrated on what human societies have in common — in areas such as language, status systems and social taboos. Evolutionary psychologists have warmed to the theme, and in a field not without controversy, their attempts to understand the balance between human universals and individual and societal uniqueness are generating some fascinating ideas, as Dan Jones reports. More controversy in Commentary, on 'untouchable science'. The protagonists — Steven Rose in one corner, Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams in the other — explain why research on the genetics of race and gender should — or should not — be pursued without restriction. Back to the history, in Books & Arts, W. F. Bynum reviews Darwin's Sacred Cause, in which Adrian Desmond and James Moore reinterpret Darwin's life and work based on two well known facts about him: he felt physical revulsion when confronted by cruelty and he loathed slavery. On a lighter note, the poetry of Darwinism features on this week's Nature Podcast, and the reason why it is not The Origin of Pigeon Species that we are celebrating. Also in this issue, a Nature Insight packaging six specially commissioned reviews on evolution. And in Naturejobs, a report on the opportunities open to biological anthropologists. See the listing of Darwin-related content from this issue in the Editorial. All of this, plus web-only material, is available at http://www.nature.com/darwin .

Should scientists study race and IQ? YES: The scientific truth must be pursued

In this, the second of two opposing commentaries, Stephen Ceci and Wendy M. Williams argue that such research is both morally defensible and important for the pursuit of truth. In the first , Steven Rose argues that studies investigating possible links between race, gender and intelligence do no good. The second of Nature's three Darwin 200 special issues celebrates 'everybody's Darwin' — the great man's legacy in the context of the human condition. The sequencing of the human genome and those of our animal relatives has broadened our understanding of the evolution of our species and the unity of the living word. Genomics has identified many sequences that are under selection, but they do not provide the simple read-out of human evolutionary history that some expected. Erika Check Hayden talks to geneticists who are coming to realize that they cannot interpret these sequences without considering the impact of human culture. Donald Brown's 1991 book Human Universals concentrated on what human societies have in common — in areas such as language, status systems and social taboos. Evolutionary psychologists have warmed to the theme, and in a field not without controversy, their attempts to understand the balance between human universals and individual and societal uniqueness are generating some fascinating ideas, as Dan Jones reports. More controversy in Commentary, on 'untouchable science'. The protagonists — Steven Rose in one corner, Stephen Ceci and Wendy Williams in the other — explain why research on the genetics of race and gender should — or should not — be pursued without restriction. Back to the history, in Books & Arts, W. F. Bynum reviews Darwin's Sacred Cause, in which Adrian Desmond and James Moore reinterpret Darwin's life and work based on two well known facts about him: he felt physical revulsion when confronted by cruelty and he loathed slavery. On a lighter note, the poetry of Darwinism features on this week's Nature Podcast, and the reason why it is not The Origin of Pigeon Species that we are celebrating. Also in this issue, a Nature Insight packaging six specially commissioned reviews on evolution. And in Naturejobs, a report on the opportunities open to biological anthropologists. See the listing of Darwin-related content from this issue in the Editorial. All of this, plus web-only material, is available at http://www.nature.com/darwin .

Charles Darwin and psychology at the bicentennial and sesquicentennial: An introduction.

This article provides an introduction to the special issue on Darwin and psychology at the bicentennial of his birth and the sesquicentennial of his publication of On the Origin of Species. His core contributions, as viewed today, were his theory of natural selection, his naturalistic philosophy, and his mass of evidence for evolutionary change. A brief summary of Darwin's life is also presented. Among Darwin's contributions to psychology were his demonstration of the continuity of species, a model for the study of instinct, a book on the expression of the emotions, and a baby biography. Previous celebrations of Darwin and the changing perceptions of his work since its publication are described. Darwin's theory remains an important part of psychology.

Darwin's legacy to comparative psychology and ethology.

Charles Darwin made numerous seminal contributions to the study of animal behavior over his long career. This essay places these contributions in the context of Darwin's life, showing his long-standing interest in psychological and behavioral issues encompassing all species, including humans. Ten areas are highlighted: natural history; communication; sexual selection and courtship; comparative cognition; emotion; instinct and behavioral development; inheritance of behavior; phylogeny of behavior; sociobiology and behavioral ecology; and applied animal behavior, animal welfare, and conservation. Several newer emphases that Darwin anticipated are briefly discussed. Darwin, while not always correct by current standards, crucially aided the process of firmly embedding psychological phenomena in a naturalistic scientific ethos.

Introduction: Darwin and the Evolution of Victorian Studies

F[ifty years ago, in just the third year of its own existence, Victorian Studies commemorated the centennial of On the Origin of Species with a special Darwin Anniversary Issue. An impressive interdisci plinary roster of scholars?including Morse Peckham, Bert James Loewenberg, Michael Passmore, and Cyril Bibby?weighed in on Darwin, Darwinism, and (in Peckham's famous term) Darwinisticism. Philip Appleman and Sydney Smith reviewed some of the early stirrings of what we now name the Darwin Industry, among them Gertrude Himmelfarb's Darwin and the Darwinian Revolution (1959), Milton Millhauser's/ws? Before Darwin: Robert Chambers and Vestiges (1959), a new edition of the Origin introduced by Julian Huxley (1958), and a reprint of Francis Darwin's Life and Letters of his father, with a foreword by G. G. Simpson (1959). As we mark the bicentennial of Darwin's birth and the sesquicen tennial of his most famous publication, it's hard not to see the germs of much of the last half-century of Darwin studies in that Darwin Anniver sary Issue. Highly regarded biologists like E. O. Wilson, Richard Dawkins, and Stephen Jay Gould continued to introduce editions of the Origin and argue over Darwin's legacy for modern biology. In Himmelfarb's dismissal of Darwin and in Peckham's startled response to the anti-Darwinian vitriol of a caller to a radio program on which he was being interviewed, we can see the continuing cultural furor over evolution and its teaching, especially in America, that has itself elicited scholarly analysis. But it has been studies by historians and philosophers, grounded in a wealth of primary sources, of Darwin's life and work, and of the work of his precur sors and contemporaries, that have distinguished the last half-century of scholarship on Darwin. Sydney Smith's shock at the realization that there is still primary source material to be edited and published among the Darwin papers at Cambridge University Library (110) surely gave way long ago to satisfaction, thanks in large measure to his own labors, at the sight?both in print and, increasingly, online?of Darwin's notebooks

Darwin: heading to a town near you

The theory of evolution challenges artists and philosophers as much as scientists. Joanne Baker rounds up the many forthcoming events worldwide that examine Darwin's life, his work and reactions to it. February 2009 sees the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin and November 2009 the 150th anniversary of the publication of his great work, On the Origin of Species. In the intervening two centuries, no single scientist has matched Darwin's impact on the sciences, politics, religion, philosophy and art. This issue of Nature brings together news, research and analysis of Darwin, his life, his science and his legacy. Darwin saw the eye — so complex and seemingly useless with any of its components part-formed — as an obstacle to the acceptance of natural selection. Today we know it as one of evolution's crowning glories — celebrated with a fold-out pictorial feature and current research that refers right back to the 'protoeyes' hypothesized by Darwin. In later writings (Descent of Man, 1871), Darwin touched on a topic that still divides evolutionary biologists — group selection. Does natural selection work for individuals against the interests of the group? Or is such thinking a historical mistake? We report on the debate and why it is important, and review a 'landmark book' on the superorgansims of the insect world, where the group looms large. Extinction comes with the evolutionary territory. But is it for ever? With the publication of the genome sequence of the long-gone woolly mammoth, some researchers are even claiming that mammoths will one day be recreated. Biologists tend to see evolved living systems as finely tuned machines, prone to failure if one component is faulty. But, as Tanguy Chouard reveals, this is not what happens in the real world. Plenty for biologists to celebrate and plenty of places to do it: we have trawled the world for events commemorating Darwin's life and works and trawled the publishers' lists for books doing the same. Not quite everybody will be in celebratory mood. The scientists we spoke to mostly are, but past celebrations have had to tread carefully. The Darwin-related content from this issue — and extra online-only material — can be accessed via: http://www.nature.com/darwin .