Darwin Day: February 12, 2009

February 12^th is Abraham Lincoln's birthday. This year will be the 200^th anniversary of his birth. While I suspect that fact will be noted, the celebrations that I am aware of that will take place on that day will be in honor of someone else who happened to share his birthday ... Charles Robert Darwin. No one denies that Abraham Lincoln was a great man. He was a complex character and the story of his life is uplifting and inspiring. So ... does Darwin deserve the greater accolades? In my opinion ... he does.

I, in no way want to disrespect the accomplishments of Abraham Lincoln. I am a big fan. I just happen to be a bigger fan of Darwin's. Darwin developed one of the greatest explanatory concepts the world will ever see. A concept whose ramifications are still being fleshed out 150 years after he published his "abstract" (his word for it), ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES. It is the single over-riding and unifying concept underlying all the biological sciences. Yet in the general public it remains controversial, with less than half of the American population accepting it.

In this blog I will not defend evolutionary theory, I have already done that in several blogs. If the reader is interested he can look back in my archives and read those. In this blog I want to look at Charles Darwin, the man. He, like Lincoln was a complex character and his story is just as uplifting and inspiring ... but in a totally different way.

While Lincoln was born in poverty in log cabin, Darwin was a child of affluence. I would like to begin Darwin's story by discussing a person Darwin never met ... his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin.

Fig. 1: Erasmus Darwin (1731-1802)

Erasmus was quite a character. He was rennaisance man. He earned his money primarily being a physician. He was invited to be the Royal Physician ... the Doctor to the King ... but he turned down the honor. He was also an inventor, inventing among other things, a machine that could talk and a machine that could copy handwriting. He hob-knobbed with well-known scientists of his day including the chemist, Joseph Priestly, and American, Benjamin Franklin, with whom he established a life-long friendship.

Like Franklin, Erasmus was somewhat of a libertine. He had mistresses and fathered children out of wedlock. His accomplishment that he is most remembered for today, however, is HIS theory of evolution. Yes, Erasmus was the first Darwin to postulate that species may change over time. He presented the theory in a book entitled ZOONOMIA. The thing about Zoonomia that stands out the most is that it is actually a book of poetry. Imagine presenting a scientific hypothesis in rhyme! But that is what Erasmus did. Erasmus' idea of evolution didn't catch on, mainly because he had no mechanism behind it -- that would have to wait for his grandson, Charles.

Erasmus' fourth child, Robert, would become Charles father.

Fig. 2: Robert Waring Darwin (1766-1848):

Although Robert followed his father's footsteps by becoming a physician, he was not nearly as flamboyant a personality as was Erasmus. He was a country physician, but well-known. He invested the money from his practice wisely and became very rich. He married Sussanah Wedgewood, the daughter of the potter, Josiah Wedgewood, a friend of Erasmus' and the originator of Wedgewood China. The Darwin/Wedgewood relationship would become even more entwined in future generations.

By all accounts Robert was a stern but fair man. While he was not demonstratively affectionate as a parent he was intimately involved in his children's lives. He was a major influence on Charles.

Fig. 3: Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882):

Charles was born on February 12, 1809. He was the fifth of six children. His mother died when Charles was only 8 years old. Curiously, Charles hardly ever mentioned her. Never (to my knowledge) in any of the numerous letters to family and friends, and in an autobiography he wrote for his children, only a brief mention to say that he could remember almost nothing about her, not even what she looked like. One would expect more of memory than that from age 8 when she died. This curious absence has caused quite a bit of speculation on how her death may have affected his early adolescence.

Charles attributed his up-bringing to his sisters, especially Caroline only 9 years his senior. Caroline would go on to marry Josiah Wedgewood III, her first cousin. Charles would marry Josiah's sister and his first cousin, Emma Wedgewood. While such marriages are not encouraged nowadays, it was not an uncommon thing to do back then. In fact, it was often encouraged as a way to keep the family money in the family.

Both his grandfather, Erasmus, and his father, Robert, were not religious people. They both were freethinkers. But Robert had Charles baptized in an Anglican Church. He regularly attended Unitarian services (with his mother) as a child. Such a religious upbringing was normal for a boy of his station.

He was "home-schooled" by Caroline early on, and then at schools run by the Unitarian and Anglican churches. No one considered him a very good student. The method of lecture did not appeal to him. The classics, especially latin he found boring. But even at an early age he showed a strong interest in the natural world. He took to collecting beetles, and was quite proud to have discovered a rare species that was included in a book.

Robert, wanted both Charles and his older brother, Erasmus Alvey Darwin ("Ras" as Charles and his family would refer to him), to become physicians. He had the money and the influence to get Ras into University of Edinburgh, and Charles followed shortly after. Neither of the Darwins much liked it. Charles became physically sick watching an amputation. He skipped class, and even gambled with some of the more disreputable classmates.

Robert was disappointed with Charles. He had enough money so that Charles could live respectably for the rest of his life on his inheritance, but he didn't want his son to be a waste on society. Earlier on in a rage he told Charles, "You care for nothing except shooting, dogs, and rat catching. You will be a disgrace to yourself and your family!" That must have affect Charles greatly. He remembered that for the rest of his life.

To Robert, there were only two occupations a man of Charles station could have ... physician or country parson. Charles had failed as physician, so that left country parson. He sent Charles to Christ's College, Cambridge. In those days, a large part of the study for the clergy included Natural History. In those courses, Charles took quite an interest. He was especially influenced by geologist Adam Sedgewick and botanist John Stevens Henslow. He eventually graduated with a Bachelor's of Arts degree.

One of his mentor's, Henslow, received an invitation from Captain Robert FitzRoy to be his guest on the English research vessel, the Beagle. FitzRoy was going on a scheduled 2 year voyage to South America. He wanted someone of education he could talk with to relieve the boredom and to literally keep him sane. Indeed, the previous captain of the Beagle had committed suicide. (Sadly, many years later ... so would FitzRoy).

Henslow felt that family obligations made it such that he could not go, but thought it would be a unique opportunity for someone interested in science. He recommended Charles Darwin in his place.

Earlier Charles had planned a trip to the Canary Islands. Those plans fell through due to health concerns on the part of his traveling companion. Charles was excited at the prospect. There were only two problems ... FitzRoy and his father.

FitzRoy was of a different political persuasion as were the Darwins. He was the conservative and they were the liberals. After interviewing Charles, he was somewhat reticent, but he did like the boy's overall attitude. Robert Darwin was wholly against it. He thought it was a waste of time and money. He thought Charles should get down to his duties at some parsonage. He discussed the situation with his best friend, Josiah Wedgewood II -- his brother-in-law, Charles uncle and future father-in-law. Josiah saw things differently. He encouraged Robert to send the boy. It would do him good and would be an experience of his lifetime. After listening to Josiah, Robert changed his mind.

Thus, with FitzRoy's and his father's approval, Charles agreed to join the expedition ... as FitzRoy's guest. Many people think that Charles Darwin was the ship's naturalist. Officially, he wasn't. Typically the position of ship's naturalist was filled by the ship's surgeon. And that position was held by Robert McCormick with whom Darwin did not get along all that well. Darwin had no official position and he was simply an unpaid guest.

The voyage got off to an auspicious start. It was scheduled to leave October 24, 1831. But the ship was poorly prepared. Provisioning and repairs delay the launch until December 10. Bad weather forced it back to England. It finally set sail on December 27 for what would be not a 2 year voyage to South America, but a 5 year voyage around the world.

Darwin was terribly sea-sick the first days of the voyage. But after a week or two he had his sea-legs. He seemed to thrive. He made many scientific observations. A scientific field that was in flux during those days was geology. People had discovered fossils and were aware they appeared to be the remains of long-extinct organisms. But how could they turn to stone over just the 6,000 years the earth was supposed to be in existence? Furthermore, how come nobody had even heard legends about some of the huge animals that were being discovered?

Then, there was the recognition that some rocks formed by pressure on sediments, Others formed from volcanic activity. Layers were seen in which sedimentary rock was sandwiched between layers of vocanic rock. Could 6,000 years accommodate that? It was becoming very apparent the answer was, "No". In the late 1700's, James Hutton had formulated the idea of deep time. "We find no vestige of a beginning, no prospect of an end", he said with respect to his geological observations.

Charles Lyell had extended Hutton's views with his publication of his 3 volume, PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY. He advocated uniformitarianism ... the idea that the earth came to be as it is through a series of small changes, not because of a global catastrophic event like the Noachian flood. He marshalled a lot of evidence to explain numerous geological phenomenon.

Darwin's school geology mentor, Adam Sedgewick -- definitely NOT a uniformitarian --, gave Charles a copy of Lyell's book to read during his down time. He told Darwin that while the book was interesting, he shouldn't take any of it too seriously. Darwin read it, and it changed his scientific life. So many things that he had wondered about made sense if deep time existed. It explained why fossils of marine organisms could be found on mountaintops. It explained why there were foldings in geological strata. It explained the fault lines. It even explained earthquakes and the like as causative agents.

Darwin swiftly became a Lyellian. But not a sycophantic one. Lyell explained coral reefs as being formed by corals growing on top of each other. But Darwin knew quite well that coral reefs existed in which the base was too deep for corals to grow. How could they have begun? Lyell didn't have good explanation for that. Darwin reasoned that if processes within the earth could very gradually raise up mountains, then perhaps there were processes that could very gradually lower sea floors. Thus, coral reefs could begin to grow at levels that could support coral growth and remain at that level as the sea floor sunk. He sent his reasoning to Henslow, who presented it at a scientific meeting that Lyell attended. Lyell immediately saw that it resolved a problem that he had been unable to solve.

Lyell would follow the young Darwin's achievements closely. Thus, Darwin was from early in the voyage becoming well-known to the scientific establishment. The irony is that he had no idea that it was happening.

Darwin made numerous discoveries. He discovered fossils of obviously extinct animals in South America. But his observation skills did not stop there. He also noted that South America was the only place where animals existed today that were similar to the extinct ones he saw there.

He experienced a major earthquake. Using the equipment on the Beagle he showed that the earthquake caused a section of shoreline to be elevated by 10 feet. This fit perfectly with Lyell's mountain building hypothesis. He noted that there were species on islands that were separate but VERY similar to those on the mainland. Why would the creator create such similar species so close together ... and no where else?

The main purpose of the Beagle was to map the west coast of South America. A major purpose for FitzRoy was to return some Christianized "Fuegians" to their home islands. The Beagle had been to South America before. One of its small excursion vessels (lifeboat sized) was stolen by natives on an island. In an effort to get it back Fitzroy kidnapped some natives and kept them. They never got the vessel back and FitzRoy ended up taking them back to England. He gave them Anglicized names: Fuegia Basket, Jeremy Button, Boat Memory, and York Minister.

FitzRoy developed a fondness for them, and being a fundamentalist Christian set forth to teach the "savages" Christianity. The results were not so good. Boat Memory died of small pox. Fuegia Basket, Jeremy Button, and York Minister became sideshow objects. They were even taken to the queen.

York Minister, who was the oldest, didn't particularly like the English way. He wanted a mate and Fuegia Basket, a very young girl, was his only option. He decided to mate with her. In order to avoid a scandal, FitzRoy decided to return them South America.

Darwin was especially impressed with Jeremy Button. His ability to pick things up seemed to be the equal of English boys. Did that mean that "savages" were equal to "civilized" races? Perhaps that meant that slavery was wrong. Darwin's grandfather, Erasmus, had been an outspoken critic of slavery, and the Darwins remained so. Even the staid Robert had contributed money to anti-slavery laws.

Darwin discussed this with FitzRoy, who with his religious fundamentalism was very opposed. FitzRoy took Darwin to the home of Portuguese land baron in Brazil. There FitzRoy talked to some of his slaves. The slaves (in the presence of the owner) all professed they would be rather be a slave to that master instead of free. FitzRoy thought that he had proved his point concerning the benevolence of slavery. Darwin made the remark that perhaps the slaves would have responded differently had the owner not been there. FitzRoy felt like his honor had been impugned and sent Darwin out of his cabin with the intent of sending him back to England on the next available ship.

After a few days, FitzRoy calmed down and changed his mind. But Darwin had come very close to not making it to the Galapagos.

The Galapagos are probably what Darwin is best known for during the voyage of the Beagle. However, the Beagle was there only slightly over a month. Darwin noted that there were distinct species of turtles on each of the islands. He noticed some mockingbirds that were similar to mockingbirds in South America. He noted the iguanas. He noted sparrow-like birds that shared similar traits but differed in the types of food they ate and the shapes of their bills (these turned out to be the famed Darwin Finches).

At this point Darwin would have considered himself an "old earth" creationist. He believed from the geological evidence that the earth was millions of years old, but he also believed that species were specially created. He did not abandon that idea on the voyage, but he did express his doubts.

The Beagle sailed on to Tahiti, to Australia, down past Cape Horn, back to Brazil, before finally arriving back in England on October 2, 1836. The voyage evidently assuaged Darwin's yearn to travel. He would never leave England again.

Darwin was somewhat surprised to learn that he was famous ... at least among scientists. He had sent back literally tons of specimens that he had collected. Scientists were busy looking at them and what they told Darwin excited him immensely. Yes, the species were distinct. Many of the island species were found on that island ... and no place else. The finches were very closely related even though their beaks varied quite a bit.

Darwin was encouraged to publish an account of his journey, which was a big success. He earned money from his royalties. His father was quite proud of him and set him up with a substantial inheritance. Darwin didn't need to work. He could devote himself fulltime to his science.

He was a meticulous man. He made a list of all the pro's and con's about being married. He decided the pro's outweighed the con's. He then decided upon who to marry. With prior mention of any affection he decided the lucky bride would be his cousin, Emma Wedgewood. She accepted ... perhaps at the urging of her father, Josiah Wedgewood II.

The marriage lasted for the rest of his life and produced 10 children. Whether or not the marriage was entered into in love, I can't say. But there is little doubt that love developed. Emma and Charles were very protective of each other. They wrote affectionate letters to each other during their marriage. They worried about their children together. Charles kept a (post-marriage) love letter from her in a special place for the rest of his life.

Immediately after his return to England Charles was very active in British scientific societies. After his marriage to Emma, he moved to Downe, about 15 miles from London and became somewhat reclusive. He developed a stomach illness that he kept for the rest of his life. He would work on his science for long stretches and then have a two or three day spell where he did nothing, other than vomit.

No one knows exactly what it was that ailed Charles. Some say he contracted Chargas Disease in South America during the Beagle voyage. Some say it was psychological. I think the evidence supports the psychological theory more. These attacks seemed to occur when Darwin needed to do something he didn't want to. They occurred when people came to visit. One occurred when he had to bury his beloved daughter, Annie, who died of a scarlet-fever-like disease at the age of 11.

It was 2 years after he had returned from the Beagle voyage that Darwin opened his first notebook up on evolution. It was 6 years later before he began discussing the idea with very close friends. "It is like confessing murder", he wrote to Joseph Hooker in 1844. He was developing an argument that species were not fixed, they evolved. His term for it at the time was "transmutation".

The Beagle voyage had given him crucial clues that species transmutated. But others had suggested the same thing, and Darwin knew that. None of these ideas were taken seriously by the scientific establishment at the time simply because no one could see HOW that could possibly happen. The clues from the Beagle voyage sent Darwin on a quest to figure that question out.

According to his autobiography, but interestingly no where corroborated in his notebooks, Darwin claims that the solution to the problem came in a Eureka moment after reading Malthus' AN ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION. Malthus said resources can be increased arithmetically but population growth is geometric. At some point population will outstrip resources and there will be a struggle for existence.

Darwin said that he realized in this struggle for existence, that organisms with favored traits will "win" and those without them will "lose". The winners will pass on their traits, the losers wont. This is a "Cliff Notes" version of natural selection. At last, Darwin had his mechanism.

Virtually all of Darwin's scientific work from then on was centered on evolution. He became an expert in barnicles. He collected them from ships that arrived from different parts of the world. He studied them primarily because no one else had, and he wanted to see what types of natural variation existed there. It was quite a bit.

He looked at adaptations in Orchids ... tendrils that the flowers used to climb trees, mimicry of insect genitals which facilitates pollenation, etc.

He wrote to naturalists all over the world asking them to send him specimens. And many of them did. He developed a select group of close friends with which he discussed his ideas. These friends included Charles Lyell, the geologist, and Joseph Hooker, a noted botanist from whom he obtained many botanical specimens. He developed correspondence with the American botanist, Asa Gray of Harvard.

To these people he talked about his idea of transmutation of species. But to the rest of the world ... he said very little. In 1844, Robert Chambers, a Scottish Journalist, published a popular book entitled VESTIGES OF CREATION. Chambers published the book anonymously. In it he claimed that species evolved -- again with no mechanism. Many of the examples he used as evidence were biologically inaccurate, and Darwin thought the book silly. However, since the book was published anonymously many people speculated as to who the author was. Darwin was prominently mentioned as a possibility. This concerned him greatly.

In that same year, Darwin began writing what he referred to as his "big book". He planned to marshall an overwhelming amount of unassailable evidence and at some future date present his theory of evolution to public scrutiny. But he was certainly in no hurry to do so. He was well aware that all theories of evolution had been controversial, and frankly, Darwin was opposed to controversy. For his entire life he did his best to avoid any type of conflict.

He collected more and more data. Hooker and Lyell urged him to publish or else he might lose his priority. Lyell noted an article published by a little known naturalist documenting the similarities of Amazonian butterflies, as though they were descended from the same ancestor even though now they were definitely different species. That little known naturalist was Alfred Russell Wallace. Darwin and he had already corresponded. Russell had mentioned the possibility of species changing, Darwin had replied that he had done some work on that very question and their thinking was somewhat in line. Darwin told him not to get too discouraged in his scientific pursuits, that Charles Lyell had thought favorably of one his papers, and then asked him to send him some specimens ... which Wallace did.

That was all well and fine, but it was also a failure of communication. Darwin did not realize how serious Wallace was about species transmutation and Wallace did not have an idea about how much work Darwin had already done.

Wallace was not as fortunate as Darwin to be born into a rich family. He had to work for a living. He was keenly interested in nature ... Darwin's book JOURNAL OF RESEARCHES (also known as THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE) had been one of his inspirations. After being doing a few odd jobs, he decided to use his interest in nature to make his living. He went to South America to collect species for museums and private collectors (which is how Darwin came to know him). He suffered a ship wreck losing all his specimens and nearly dying. So he started over ... this time going to East Indies. On the island of Sumatra he came down with malaria. He was sick for about 3 weeks which prevented him from collecting.

He spent the time in which he felt well enough reading. One of the books he read was, Malthus' AN ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE OF POPULATION ... same as Darwin. And like Darwin, he came to the conclusion that in the struggle for existence favored animals would pass on their traits and non-favored wouldn't. He also wrote a paper detailing this revelation, and he wanted it published.

His previous paper, the one Lyell had told Darwin about, had received little interest. Wallace wanted help getting it published. Darwin had told him Lyell liked his work. Both Darwin and Lyell were famous. Wallace sent the paper to Darwin asking him to show it to Lyell and if they thought it was good enough perhaps they could help get it published.

At this point there is some uncertainty concerning the story. Darwin contacted Lyell and Hooker saying that he had just received Wallace's paper and that their warnings of his losing priority had come to pass. Darwin said that he hated to have 20 years of work thrown out the window, but he would rather that than do something dishonorable. Lyell and Hooker then independent of Darwin decided the proper solution was to have Wallace's paper read at an upcoming meeting along with a letter (written in 1844) from Darwin to Asa Gray outlining his concepts and establishing his priority on the subject.

This story may present Darwin in a bit better light than he deserves. For one thing, Darwin in contacting Lyell and Hooker was begging (by actions if not by words) for them to come up with a way so that he could maintain his priority. For another, in order for Wallace to get a letter to Darwin he would have given it to a crew member of a ship that was passing by Sumatra and had England on its itinerary. Recently, historians have looked at the itineraries of possible ships that letter could have been on. It seems likely that Darwin had Wallace's letter in his possession for a couple of months before contacting Lyell and Hooker. Mail was not as reliable as it is now. Darwin could easily have thrown the letter in the fire and claimed he never saw it. Was he considering doing that during those two months? Who knows, but in the end ... he didn't. Wallace is credited with being the co-discoverer of natural selection, and I think that is appropriate. Throughout his life, Wallace himself never expressed anything other than gratitude to Darwin for his inclusion.

Wallace's paper and Darwin's letter were read at the meeting of Linnean Society of London on the first of July in 1858. These papers were the first to outline a viable mechanism for evolution. The response to the papers was ... nil. The end of the year address by the president of the society lamented about the lack of any earth-shaking discoveries being reported. That opinion was not destined to last.

Darwin had learned his lesson on the dangers of withholding publication. He had been working on his "big book" for 14 years. The next year in 1859, he published an "abstract" of that book entitled ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION, OR THE PRESERVATION OF FAVOURED RACES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. Over the years we have come to know it simply as ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.

The book was a hit with scientists and the general public alike. The logic of Darwin's argument and the evidence he presented in its favor was overwhelming. It prompted Thomas Henry Huxley, who was to become "Darwin's Bulldog", to say, "I should have thought of that myself".

It was not unanimously accepted of course. Richard Owen, the premiere British anatomist of his day, dismissed it. So did Darwin's old geology mentor, Adam Sedgewick. Darwin addressed all complaints, though not in person. In response to critics he issued a total of 7 editions. When challenged to defend his theory publicly he deferred often becoming physically sick. However, his friends and supporters, especially Joseph Hooker and Thomas Huxley, took up that mantle quite ably.

Darwin continued his science. In addition to publish ON THE ORIGIN (and its six updates) he published THE DESCENT OF MAN, THE VARIATION OF ANIMALS AND PLANTS UNDER DOMESTICATION, THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTIONS, INSECTIVOROUS PLANTS, and THE FORMATION OF VEGETABLE MOULDS BY THE ACTION OF WORMS. These were all books, and surprisingly considering some of the titles, they were all best sellers.

We know Darwin's scientific life very well. But there was more to Darwin than science. He was a family man. He worried that his stomach illness might be passed on to his children. He worried that marrying his first cousin might be detrimental to them (there is no evidence that it was). He stayed up nights with them when they were sick. Even at his busiest he always took time to play with them when they came into his study. He never got over the death of his daughter Annie, keeping a box of her possessions she played with to the end of his life. He always took pleasure in Emma's company.

He was a social progressive. He sent money to anti-slavery causes in the United States. He even served a short stint as community barrister. He made provisions for his friends and loyal household servants in his will.

His religious views varied over his life. He was never strongly religious, but he was a believer in early adulthood. He wrote of his admiration for William Paley's "Watchmaker" argument from design concerning God's existence ... an argument that his theory of evolution supplanted. Crew members of the Beagle made fun of him quoting scripture on the voyage.

His heritage, both his father and grandfather, being free-thinkers must have instilled doubt. His study of nature fueled it. The cruel death of his daughter sealed it. But at no time did Darwin ever claim to embrace atheism. He felt like the world did show signs of purpose, but it also signs of malevolence ... if Christianity were true then his father and grandfather were spending eternity in torture; the larvae of ichneumid wasps live of the internal organs of living catepillars; a beautiful and innocent young girl dying a tortuous death --- how could you reconcile that with a loving God? Darwin gave up, saying that the problem was beyond him. He knew that this caused Emma pain. She was much more devout than him. She wrote him a letter during their marriage asking him to reconsider his beliefs as she wanted live in eternity with him. He wrote in the margins how he often read those words and it made him cry. But, he did not hide his agnosticism from her ever. Following his death, a person called Lady Hope claimed to be present when Darwin had a deathbed conversion. I'm sure that Emma would have been happy had that been true, but she along with the rest of the family denied the story.

In short, Darwin was a very complicated and quite human person. He was without doubt one of the great scientists of all time. He was kind and gentle. His motivations were generally positive. But he was flawed too. He used his illnesses to avoid unpleasant things leaving family and friends to deal with them. He was not immune to pride, becoming distraught at the idea of losing priority on his theory of evolution. ... And he still has an effect upon us today, whether we realize it or not. I am very happy to be part of the Darwin Day celebrations across the world.