19 October 2001[1]
[This page printed from http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/DarwinRetFacOct2001.html]
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© [All Rights Reserved.] Presented [with videotape and slides] on October 19, 2001 for a "Chico State Retired Faculty Association" meeting at California State University, Chico. |
There is a delightful book entitled Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters On The Evolution of Life And Human Behavior wherein the author (who writes to Darwin and writes back as Darwin) has Darwin stating:
"I am so glad you have taken the time and trouble to write to me. It is one of the saddest aspects of human existence that, as soon as one passes away, it is generally assumed that the deceased has no further interest in what he or she spent a great part of life investigating. From what you tell me of the Darwin industry of scholars in your day, busy seeking out every nuance of my life and thoughts, I have to conclude that there is indeed life after death [stress added]." Gabriel Dover, 2000, Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters On The Evolution of Life And Human Behavior (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson), page 3.
I have been interested in Charles R. Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19, 1882) for decades and have "doing Darwin" in the first person since October 4, 1990. Darwin is interesting and many have written much about him and there is a veritable "Darwin Industry." Darwin is obviously (viewed in hindsight) as a scholar; as a child, however, Charles Darwin's father became frustrated with him, stating on one occasion that "You care for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat-catching, and you will be a disgrace to yourself and your family" (Julian Huxley and H.B.D. Kettlewell, 1965, Charles Darwin And His World, page 16). A summary statement on Charles Darwin:
"He was an Englishman who went on a five-year voyage when he was young and then retired to a house in the country, not far from London. He wrote an account of his voyage, and then he wrote a book setting down his theory of evolution, based on a process he called natural selection, a theory that provided the foundation for modern biology. He was often ill and never left England again." John P. Wiley, Jr., 1998, Expressions: The Visible Link. Smithsonian, June, pages 22-24, page 22.
Darwin returned home, married his cousin Ms. Emma Wedgwood (1808-1892), and did his science. Emma eventually gave birth to ten children and Charles Darwin, encouraged by his colleagues, published "seventeen works in twenty one volumes, or fifteen if the three volumes of geology of the Beagle are treated as one" (R.B. Freeman, 1978, Charles Darwin: A Companion, page 77). It has been estimated that Darwin published some "seven thousand pages, about three million words" in his lifetime (John Bowlby, 1990, Charles Darwin: A New Life, page 5). Darwin's monumental work was On The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (this is the on-line version of the first edition of 1859 edition). Note the changes Darwin made in the SIX editions of Origin during his lifetime (as calculated by Morse Peckham [Editor], 1959, The Origin Of Species By Charles Darwin: A Variorum Text):
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Darwin had numerous colleagues, including Joseph Hooker (1817-1911), known to us for the naming of the "Hooker Oak" during his 1877 visit to Chico. There was Charles Lyell (1791-1875), immortalized in California by Mt. Lyell (so named in 1863 by the Whitney Survey Party of the Sierra Nevada) and Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), also an important scientist, friend, colleague, and supporter of Darwin's ideas. Consider if you will the words of Colin Fletcher in his masterful 1967 book describing his two-month walk through the Grand Canyon!
"Other place names recalled key figures in the Canyon's white-man history: Powell Plateau honors the one-armed Major John Wesley Powell [1834-1902] who in 1869 led the river party that forced the first passage of the Canyon....Near the head of Bass Trail lay Darwin Plateau. From its northern rim ran Huxley and Spencer Terraces. And between them, sure enough, nestled Evolution Amphitheater. As I brooded over the map, there beside the rainpocket at the head of Fossil Bay....[stress added]." Colin Fletcher, 1967, The Man Who Walked Through Time (NY: Vintage Books), page 93.
Darwin was conducting research and writing until the 73rd year of his life and while visiting a friend in London in December 1881, he suffered a mild heart seizure. On the 12th of February 1882, his 73rd birthday, he wrote to a friend that "my course is nearly run" (Julian Huxley and H.B.D. Kettlewell, 1965, Charles Darwin And His World, page 126). When Darwin had his fatal heart attack on Wednesday April 19, 1882, he made no deathbed statement as to his faith. However, had he been asked the question, "Darwin, have you made peace with God?" I think that he would have responded with the words attributed to Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) who, on his deathbed, is said to have replied to that question with "I didn't know we had quarreled" (Huston Smith, 1958, The Religions of Man, page 328). Over the years a "story" appears: "Did you know that Charles Darwin became a Christian before he died? It's true. I read about it once in a book--or was it a magazine. I forget. Anyway...." (J. Moore, 1994, The Darwin Legend, page 21). Moore proves the story false by citing Francis Darwin (1848-1925), son of Charles and Emma Darwin:
"Lady Hope's account of my father's views on religion is quite untrue. I have publicly accused her of falsehood, but have not seen any reply. My father's agnostic point of view is given in my 'Life and Letters of Charles Darwin,' Vol. I., pp. 304-317. You are at liberty to publish the above statement. Indeed, I shall be glad if you will do so. Yours faithfully, Francis Darwin. Brookthorpe, Gloucester. May 28, 1918."
Thomas Huxley wrote Darwin's obituary for the April 27, 1882 issue of Nature (London) and he wrote that the words applied to Socrates "Apology" were appropriate for Darwin and the words ring:
"...in our ears as if it were Charles Darwin's farewell:--'The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our ways--I to die and you to live. Which is the better, God only knows.'" Thomas H. Huxley, 1986, Charles Darwin. Darwiniana Essays, pages 244-247, page 247.
After Darwin's death, one of his children best summarized the life of Charles R. Darwin:
"My first remembrances of my father are of the delights of his playing with us. He was passionately attached to his own children, although he was not an indiscriminate child-lover. ... He cared for all our pursuits and interests, and lived our lives with us in a way that very few fathers do. But I am certain that none of us felt that this intimacy interfered the least with our respect and obedience. ... Another characteristic of his treatment of his children was his respect for their liberty, and for their personality. Our father and mother would not even wish to know what we were doing or thinking unless we wished to tell. He always made us feel that we were each of us creatures whose opinions and thoughts were valuable to him, so that whatever there was best in us came out in the sunshine of his presence [stress added]." (Francis Darwin, 1950, Charles Darwin's Autobiography: With His Notes And Letters Depicting The Growth of The Origin of Species, pp. 96-98).
NOTE: Today's presentation included videotape segments and slides and is obviously part of a larger piece. The same visuals will be shown again on October 25, 2001 (at the Anthropology Forum presentation at CSU, Chico) and some will be shown again on November 4, 2001 (at the Unitarian Fellowship of Chico). However, different "words" are being prepared for both of these public presentations and, while (of necessity) there will be some overlap, you are invited to check out those two web sites:
2001a http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/DarwinForum2001.html (On Darwin At The 21st Century. For the CSU, Chico Anthropology Forum, October 25.)
2001b http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/FA2001Unitarian.html (Darwin, Dying, and Death: Philosophical Perspective[s], November 4).
http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/WordsOnAnnie'sBox.html [2001 words on Annie's Box].
http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/SoAmGIslands.html [July 2000 Galápagos Islands Trip]
http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/Darwin2000.html [November 2000 presentation with complete listing of all Urbanowicz papers relating to Darwin to that date, including numerous other WWW references].
Darwin videotapes (three to date) on the WWW:
http://rce.csuchico.edu/rv/Darwin/Darwin3.ram [Charles Darwin: - Part Two: The Voyage (2001). ~Twenty-two Minutes. Darwin from South America, through the Galápagos Islands, and back to England.] Edited by Ms. Vilma Hernandez and Produced by Ms. Donna Crowe: Instructional Media Center, CSU, Chico. Available via the Internet with REAL PLAYER [http://www.real.com/player/index.html.
http://rce.csuchico.edu/rv/Darwin/DarwinVoyage.ram [Charles Darwin: - Part One: The Voyage (1999). ~Twenty-two Minutes. Darwin sailing from England to South America.] Produced and Edited by Ms. Donna Crowe: Instructional Media Center, CSU, Chico. Available via the Internet with REAL PLAYER [http://www.real.com/player/index.html.
http://www.rce.csuchico.edu/rv/Darwin/DarwinReflections.ram [Charles Darwin: Reflections - Part One: The Beginning (1997). ~Seventeen Minutes. Darwin in England]. Produced and Edited by Ms. Donna Crowe: Instructional Media Center, CSU, Chico. Available via the Internet with REAL PLAYER [http://www.real.com/player/index.html.
WWW References (Others):
http://darwin.ws/day/ [Darwin Day Home Page].
http://www.darwinawards.com/ [Official Darwin Awards} "...showing us just how uncommon common sense can be." Wendy Northcutt, 2000, The Darwin Awards: Evolution in Action (Dutton).
To go to the home page of the Department of Anthropology.
To go to the home page of California State University, Chico.
[This page printed from http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/DarwinRetFacOct2001.html]
Copyright © 2001; all rights reserved by Charles F. Urbanowicz |
19 October 2001 |