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Overview
When Darwin embarked on the HMS Beagle in late December 1831, bound for the southern hemisphere, he could not have imagined that the experience would lead him to formulate a theory which would totally revolutionize the way in which we viewed the natural world. He did not come to his conclusions about the origin and evolution of all life on Earth quickly, though, for just as the living organisms to which his theory applied had evolved over millions of years, so his thinking evolved as his own life progressed.
How did this thoughtful, methodical scientist come to have such an impact on his time—and on ours? These questions and more are what Andrew Norman seeks to answer in this biography of the author of The Origin of Species.
Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781629140742 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Skyhorse |
| Publication date: | 04/01/2014 |
| Sold by: | SIMON & SCHUSTER |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 336 |
| File size: | 2 MB |
About the Author
Read an Excerpt
CHAPTER 1
Charles Darwin: A Child Is Born
Charles Robert Darwin was born on 12 February 1809 at 'The Mount' (a mansion built by his father Dr Robert Darwin, in 1798) in Shrewsbury, the county town of Shropshire. Constructed of red brick in the late Georgian style, 'The Mount' reflected the fact that its owner was a man of substance. It was subsequently described as containing:
Dining Room, Drawing Room, Morning Room opening into Conservatory, Library, Fourteen Bedrooms with suitable Dressing Rooms, Kitchens and all usual offices, ample Cellaring, very extensive Stabling, Coach Houses, &c., Conservatories, Fernery, Forcing Frames, extensive walled Garden, Pleasure Grounds, and adjoining piece of Land ..., and standing in an elevated position on the Banks of the River Severn, commanding [views of] extensive and beautiful scenery. The property also included a Gardener's House with Garden attached, Coach-house, Stable, &c.
The luxuriousness of life at 'The Mount' is further indicated by the presence of a parterre, a summerhouse, and an ice house (a building, typically one situated partly or wholly underground, in which food was preserved by storing it in ice).
Darwin had an older brother, Erasmus Alvey (born 1804), and four sisters: Marianne (born 1798), Caroline Sarah (born 1800), Susan Elizabeth (born 1803), and (Emily) Catherine (born 1810). During his boyhood his siblings called him 'Bobby', or alternatively, 'Charley', and subsequent correspondence reveals that a strong and loving bond existed between them all.
His father Robert
Darwin's father, Robert Waring Darwin, was born on 30 May 1766. He attended Leiden University in the Netherlands where, following in the footsteps of his father, Erasmus, he qualified as a doctor. He subsequently established a 'very large [medical] practice' in Shrewsbury. In 1788, following the publication in the scientific journal Philosophical Transactions (of the Royal Society) of a learned paper entitled 'Ocular Spectra', Robert was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
On 18 April 1796, Robert married Susannah, daughter of his father Erasmus's late friend, the famous Staffordshire potter Josiah Wedgwood (I).
At 'The Mount', Robert 'took a great pleasure in his garden, planting it with ornamental trees and shrubs, and being especially successful in fruit- trees....' Darwin described his father as 'the kindest man I ever knew ... .'
His mother Susannah Darwin, née Wedgwood
Susannah came from a family whose religious persuasion was Unitarian (see below). She attended the Reverend George Case's Unitarian chapel (situated in Shrewsbury's High Street), as did Darwin and his siblings. Said Darwin,
My mother died in July 1817, when I was a little over eight years old, and it is odd that I can remember hardly anything about her except her death-bed, her black velvet gown, and her curiously constructed work- table.
Dr Case and Shrewsbury Unitarian School
Apart from his ministerial duties, the Reverend Case also ran a day school in Shrewsbury that Darwin attended, the latter describing himself at this time as a collector of
all sorts of things: shells [of marine molluscs], seals [presumably for stamping designs on documents], franks [presumably for stamping letters with official marks to record payment of postage], coins, and minerals.
Darwin also reveals that he was 'interested at this early age in the variability of plants [i.e. in respect of their colours]'. He made minute observations in regard to the variability of species — both plants and animals — and as a result of the deductions which he made, based upon such observations, he would one day become famous throughout the world.
Darwin confessed that, as a child, he had a penchant for telling white lies and for performing practical jokes.
I once gathered much valuable fruit from my father's trees and hid it in the shrubbery and then ran in breathless haste to spread the news that I had discovered a hoard of stolen fruit.
[However] father wisely treated this tendency not by making crimes of the fibs, but by making light of the discoveries.
Darwin also described how, on one occasion, he 'acted cruelly for I beat a puppy ... '. He then proceeds to analyse his emotions. Yes, he had enjoyed his 'sense of power' over the puppy, but nonetheless, 'this act lay heavily on my conscience, as is shown by my remembering the exact spot where the crime was committed'.
CHAPTER 2Religion: Unitarianism
Unitarianism is a so-called 'non-conformist' or 'dissenting' religion, which originated in Transylvania – now part of Romania – in the sixteenth century, and a Unitarian is defined as a person, especially a Christian, who asserts the unity of God and rejects the doctrine of the Trinity (the three persons of the Christian Godhead – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit).
In England, Unitarian ideas were first expounded by John Biddle (1615–62), graduate and tutor of Magdalen Hall, Oxford and in 1774 Britain's first Unitarian congregation was established by the former Anglican clergyman Theophilus Lindsey in Essex Street, Strand, London. (Anglican – relating to or denoting the Church of England, or any Church in communion with it.)
As members of a 'dissenting' religion Unitarians were liable to be ostracized for their beliefs and persecuted, and it was not until 1813 (with the repeal of certain clauses of the Toleration Act) that Unitarianism finally became a legalized form of worship.
To Unitarians Jesus Christ is not God (i.e. part of the Trinity) but rather 'a man, unequivocally human [who was] conceived and born in the usual human manner'. God is therefore regarded by Unitarians as a 'unity', rather than a 'trinity' – hence the name 'Unitarian'. Unitarians also believe that following Christ's crucifixion, he did not descend into 'Hell'; for in Unitarianism, there is no such place. Neither is there such an entity as 'The Devil', and nor do they subscribe to the doctrine of 'Original Sin'. As for the 'Resurrection of Christ' from the dead – this is to be seen, not as a literal truth, but rather as a 'powerful myth'; and as for the notion of there being life after death 'most Unitarians agree that this is an area of mystery'. To summarize
Unitarians believe that freedom from prescribed creeds, dogma and confessions of faith is necessary if people are to seek and find truth for themselves. Shared values and a shared religious approach are a surer basis for unity than theological propositions. Because no human being and no human institution can have a monopoly of truth, it is safer to admit that from the outset. The Unitarian community is a community of the spirit that cherishes reason and acknowledges honest doubt; a community where the only theological test is that required by one's own conscience. Above all, Unitarians are bound by a sense of common humanity.
Finally, Unitarians, who regard both the Bible and the Church as fallible, believe that for every individual, the seat of religious authority lies 'within oneself', and that 'all people develop their own belief system'.
Most importantly for the young Charles Darwin was the attitude of Unitarians to science, summed up by Unitarian minister and theologian James Martineau, Minister of Little Portland Street Chapel, London (1858–72) and Principal of Manchester New (Unitarian) College (1869–85), who declared that 'the architects of science have raised over us a nobler temple ...'.
Given the fact that, from an early age, Charles Darwin was passionately interested in the natural world and natural history (defined as the scientific study of the natural world, including animals and plants, palaeontology, and other natural phenomena which are the subject of scientific investigation) it was fortunate for him that the Unitarian environment (provided for him by his Unitarian chapel, Unitarian school, and Unitarian mother) was 'science friendly'. This situation, however, was now to change, for it was said of Darwin that 'after his early boyhood, he seems usually to have gone to church and not to Mr Case's [chapel]. This was a reference to Shrewsbury's Anglican Church of St Chad, where Darwin had been baptized in November 1809.
Robert Darwin was a 'freethinker' – one who rejects accepted opinions, especially those concerning religious belief. (Robert's father Erasmus, had also been sceptical about religion, declaring that 'Unitarianism was a feather-bed to catch a falling Christian', by which he meant, presumably, that for those who had doubts about the truth of Christianity, or found it impossible to follow its tenets, there was always Unitarianism to fall back on.)
It appears, therefore, that after the death of Darwin's Unitarian mother Susannah, Robert made the decision to transfer his son (and presumably his other children) to the established Church of England. This was probably because Robert, who had ambitions for his two sons, knew that as Unitarian 'dissenters' they would face hostility and prejudice in society, which might well prove to be a hindrance to them.
CHAPTER 3Shrewsbury School and the Reverend Butler
In the summer of 1818 Darwin entered Shrewsbury School as a boarder, even though the school was 'hardly more than a mile to my home'. Its headmaster was Samuel Butler, who had been appointed to the post in 1798 at the age of only twenty-four years, and who would occupy this position for another thirty-eight years.
According to the school's chronicler Basil Oldham, it was said of Butler that he
was very much alive to the claims of moral as well as intellectual education. But in the application of the most important vehicle of it, religion, the one Shrewsbury headmaster [i.e. Butler] who became a bishop [of Lichfield in 1836] was sadly wanting. He was frankly [defeatist] in regard to the practicability of influencing boys through their religion.
The horror he so frequently expresses of the Evangelicals [Protestant Christians who emphasize the authority of the Bible, personal conversion, and the doctrine of salvation by faith in the Atonement], and the firm distinction that he draws in his sermon on Christian Liberty, between 'a Pietist and a pious person, a Puritan and a pure person, a Religionist and a religious person', show that his fear and dislike of religious enthusiasm were almost an obsession with him, and he probably felt that if formal services and formal religious instruction were of no avail with boys, he was not prepared to try any other methods.
To Darwin, Shrewsbury School was a huge disappointment. He wrote:
Nothing could have been worse for the development of my mind than Dr Butler's school, as it was strictly classical, nothing else being taught, except a little ancient geography and history. The school, as a means of education, to me was simply a blank.
Nonetheless, said Darwin, 'I was not idle, and with the exception of versification [to turn into or express in verse], generally worked conscientiously at my classics, not using cribs.' And being possessed of a good memory, he
could effect with great facility, learning forty or fifty lines of Virgil or Homer, whilst I was in morning chapel; but this exercise was utterly useless, for every verse was forgotten in forty-eight hours.
The only qualities which at this period promised well for the future were, that I had strong and diversified tastes, much zeal for whatever interested me, and a keen pleasure in understanding any complex subject or thing.
I was taught Euclid by a private tutor, and I distinctly remember the intense satisfaction which the clear geometrical proofs gave me. I remember with equal distinctness the delight which my uncle [Samuel Tertius Darwin] gave me by explaining the principle of the vernier [a small movable graduated scale for obtaining fractional parts of subdivisions on a fixed main scale] of a barometer.
Darwin tried his best to make up for these perceived deficiencies in his education in his spare time. For example, he described reading, for pleasure, the plays of Shakespeare and the poetry of Thomson, Byron and Scott.
Early in my school-days a boy had a copy of The Wonders of the World, which I often read, and disputed with other boys about the veracity of some of the statements; and I believe that this book first gave me a wish to travel in remote countries....
Here, then, is an early clue as to the character of the young Darwin — someone who was always ready and willing to challenge the opinions of others.
But it was the natural world which fascinated him most.
I must have observed insects with some little care, for when ten years old I went for three weeks to Plas Edwards on the sea-coast in Wales. I was very much interested and surprised at seeing a large black and scarlet Hemipterous insect, many moths and a Cicindela [brightly- coloured beetle], which are not found in Shropshire.
From reading White's Selbourne [a reference to the Reverend Gilbert White, clergyman and naturalist, whose Natural History & Antiquities of Selborne was published in 1879], I took much pleasure in watching the habits of birds, and even made notes on the subject.
Darwin also confessed to 'collecting minerals with much zeal, but quite unscientifically ...'. And he 'became passionately fond of shooting' (i.e. game), and enjoyed angling.
In February 1822 Erasmus (II), Darwin's elder brother, was admitted to Christ's College, Cambridge. That November, writing from Cambridge, he suggested to Darwin that their 'lab' at 'The Mount' might be improved by having 'some more shelves fixed up'. This was a reference by Erasmus to a 'fair laboratory with proper apparatus' which he had created 'in the tool-house in the garden'. Here, said Darwin, 'I was allowed to aid him as a servant in most of his experiments. He made all the gases and many compounds, and I read with care several books on chemistry ....'
Furthermore, Erasmus informed Darwin that he had
ordered a small goniometer [an instrument for the precise measurement of angles, especially one used to measure the angles between the faces of crystals] so that we shall be able to separate the different [crystals] in your cab [presumably cabinet]: I have not yet procured any of the minerals you mentioned. [However] I have bought a book which will be very useful. There are directions for finding out the names of minerals &c. &c. & the rules are not very difficult. I am attending Professor Cummings's [James Cumming, Professor of Chemistry at Cambridge University] lectures on chemistry which are very entertaining. I have written all his experiments down as far as we have [proceeded] which we shall be able to try over again.
A thirst for knowledge and a voracious appetite for learning were other characteristics of the young Darwin. What joy the brothers must have had together, in concocting and performing their experiments! But on the downside, said Darwin
The fact that we [he and Erasmus] worked at chemistry somehow got known at the school, and as it was an unprecedented fact, I was nicknamed 'Gas'. I was also once publicly rebuked by the headmaster, Dr Butler for thus wasting my time on such useless subjects; and he called me very unjustly, a poco curante [caring, but only to a small degree — i.e. largely indifferent], and as I did not understand what he meant, it seemed to me a fearful reproach.
In May 1823 Erasmus told Darwin, 'I have got a few Devils toe nails [belemnites — fossilized molluscs] for you ...' (i.e. which Darwin could add to his collection).
About a month later, Darwin's younger sister Emily, told him
You have no idea how I long to seen you again my dear Charles.... How snug the Laboratory will be in Winter!! How does Mineralogy, Botany, Chemistry and Entomology [the study of insects] go on?
Two years later, in March 1825, Erasmus asked Darwin to 'look in ye English Systema Vegetab [Systema Vegetabilum, published in 1783, by Swedish naturalist and physician, Carolus Linnaeus, 1707 — 78] & copy me out the specific description of Pinus sylvestris [Scots pine]'.
What can be deduced about the young Darwin, from what is known of his life to date? That he was intensely interested in the natural world; had an enquiring mind; loved to experiment, and was a great collector of specimens. However, academically, he had failed to live up to his father Robert's expectations of him as he noted.
As I was doing no good at school, my father wisely took me away at a rather earlier age than usual, and sent me to Edinburgh University....
Both his father Robert, and his grandfather Erasmus, had studied medicine at Edinburgh University, and it was envisaged that Darwin would follow in their footsteps and become a doctor. The year was 1825 and he was now aged sixteen.
(Continues…)
Excerpted from "Charles Darwin"
by .
Copyright © 2014 Andrew Norman.
Excerpted by permission of Skyhorse Publishing.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Table of Contents
Darwin/Wedgwood Family Tree,
Acknowledgements,
Maps,
Preface,
Chapter 1 Charles Darwin: A Child Is Born,
Chapter 2 Religion: Unitarianism,
Chapter 3 Shrewsbury School and the Reverend Butler,
Chapter 4 Edinburgh,
Chapter 5 Cambridge,
Chapter 6 John Locke and William Paley,
Chapter 7 A Proposition,
Chapter 8 The Voyage of HMS Beagle,
Chapter 9 The Galapagos,
Chapter 10 Home at Last,
Chapter 11 Thomas Robert Malthus,
Chapter 12 Romance: Marriage: Darwin's Theory Takes Shape,
Chapter 13 A Rival Appears on the Scene: Darwin's Hand Is Forced,
Chapter 14 Labor Omnia Vincit,
Chapter 15 The Origin of Species,
Chapter 16 The Great Oxford Debate,
Chapter 17 Aftermath of the Great Debate,
Chapter 18 Alfred Russel Wallace,
Chapter 19 Variation: The Theory of Pangenesis,
Chapter 20 Sir Francis Galton,
Chapter 21 The Descent of Man,
Chapter 22 Darwin and Freedom of Thought,
Chapter 23 Erasmus Darwin,
Chapter 24 Lamarck,
Chapter 25 Patrick Matthew,
Chapter 26 William Charles Wells,
Chapter 27 Darwin's Chronic Illness: Dr James M. Gully,
Chapter 28 Darwin's Continuing Ill-Health: Possible Causes,
Chapter 29 Dr Ralph Colp: Professor Saul Adler: Chagas' Disease,
Chapter 30 Darwin, Emma, and God,
Chapter 31 Religions: Their Creation and Evolution,
Chapter 32 The Dinosaurs,
Chapter 33 Birds: The Only Surviving Dinosaurs,
Chapter 34 The Eugenics Debate,
Chapter 35 Major Leonard Darwin,
Chapter 36 Social Darwinism: The Deliberate Misrepresentation of Darwin's Ideas: The Nazi Holocaust,
Chapter 37 Why Superstition May Be Preferable to Reason,
Chapter 38 The Ingrained Nature of False Beliefs,
Chapter 39 Genetic Science Vindicates Darwin and Provides an Explanation for Variation,
Chapter 40 Darwin and Downe's Church of St Mary the Virgin,
Chapter 41 The Darwin Children,
Chapter 42 The Final Decade,
Epilogue,
Appendix I,
Appendix II,
Appendix III,
Notes,
Bibliography,
Index,