Darwin Charles - Charles Darwin: destroyer of myths

Copyright 2014 by Andrew Norman

FIRST NORTH AMERICAN EDITION 2014

First published in Great Britain in 2013 by Pen & Sword Discovery, an imprint of Pen & Sword Books Ltd

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.
ISBN: 978-1-62873-725-7

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

DARWIN / WEDGWOOD

FAMILY TREE
(Selected)

Acknowledgements

AK Bell Library, Perth, Scotland; British Library; Darwin Correspondence Project, Cambridge University Library; Dundee Central Library, Local History Centre; Plymouth University, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth, UK; Linnean Society of London; Natural History Museum; Perth and Kinross Council Archive; Perth Museum & Art Gallery; Poole Postgraduate Library; Poole Central Library; Royal Society, London; School of Geography, Scientific Manuscripts Collections, Department of Manuscripts & University Archives, University Library, Cambridge; South Place Ethical Society, Conway Hall, London; Special Collections, Centre for Research Collections, Edinburgh University Library; United Benefice of Cudham and Downe; Welsh School of Pharmacy, Cardiff.

Paul Adair; Rupert Baker, Professor Simon Baron-Cohen; Yvonne Bell; Catherine Broad; Claire Button; Professor Anthony K. Campbell; Anne Carroll; Elaine Charwat; Rosemary Clarkson; Mary Clayton; Professor Barbara Doughty; Hugh Dower; Gabriel Dragffy; Nicholas Dragffy; Stuart Hannabuss; Ellen King; Rhona Morrison; Barbara Pierce; Dr Toni Soriano Arandes; Adam J. Perkins; Gregory D. Price; the Reverend Cliff Reed; Nigel J. Savery; Angela Stone; Deirdre Sweeney; John Watson.

I am especially grateful to my beloved wife, Rachel, for all her help and encouragement.

Plan of Down House and its grounds.

Places visited by HMS Beagle, on her voyage 183136.

Geographical distribution of Chagas disease vectors in Latin America. (Source: PAHO/WHO, Programme on Communicable Diseases)

Preface

Charles Darwin did not deliberately set out to be the destroyer of mythical beliefs, some of which, in his early days as a young Christian, he had previously espoused. He was a modest man who liked to avoid controversy of any kind, yet paradoxically, he was to be the cause of the greatest controversy in the history of the world! Neither did he quickly come to his conclusions about the origin and evolution of all life on Earth, 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.

Darwin was the scientific equivalent of Mr Valiant-for-truth, a character in writer and preacher the Reverend John Bunyans Pilgrims Progress a religious allegory, representing the Christian journey from a sinful condition to redemption. Like Mr Valiant-for-truth Darwin was to endure great hardships persecution might not be too strong a word on account of his beliefs. However, Darwins journey was not a pilgrimage to the Celestial City, but one of scientific discovery.

When, in late December 1831, Darwin embarked on HMS Beagle , 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 man viewed the natural world. And yet, although Darwins theory explains so much, it leaves many questions unanswered. Some relate to Darwin himself: in particular the nature of the chronic illness which plagued him all his adult life. Others relate to such questions as why did the dinosaurs become extinct; was it possible to resolve the apparent incompatibility of Darwinism and science; to what extent was Darwinism a factor in the Nazi Holocaust? Finally, come questions which penetrate to the very heart of what it means to be a human being.

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 Gardeners 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

Darwins 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. 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 Erasmuss 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 .