Darwin: His Time, his Works, his Influence

Darwin: his time, his works, his influence

Lopez Piñero Institute of History of Science and Medicine. Palau de Cerveró (P. Cisneros, 4)

Opening: 20 February 09
Closing: September 09

Organitza:

Patrocina:

Curators:

Victor Navarro, Science History Professor, Universitat de València

Jesús Català, Science History Lecturer, Cardenal Herrera University-CEU

www.uv.es/cdciencia

This year is the 200^th anniversary of possibly the most influential naturalist ever,  the English naturalist Charles R. Darwin (1809-1882), the author who laid down the foundations of today’s central theory in the explanation of life and its associated phenomena: the theory of evolution by natural selection. The exhibition is intended to bring Darwin and his works closer to the audience, within the context of his time, trying to understand the deep influence he exerted. Universitat de València also wants to celebrate another anniversary, namely that of the homage paid to the English naturalist a hundred years ago by medical students supported by different science and culture figures from València and Spain. On that occasion, students paid tribute to someone who already was an unquestionable reference in the history of knowledge but someone whose more general significance unfortunately remains little understood today.

Charles Darwin and On the Origin of the Species

1. THE EVOLUTION IDEA

Evolution refers to the fact that living beings experience transformation over time. Although this idea could be found more or less explicitly in previous authors, it was only in the 18^th century that it was put forward as a serious alternative to the dominant opposite theory, i.e. life rules are fixed and life was created by God. Within that framework, the diversity of living beings was hierarchically represented as a big ladder on which each species had a specific place, the more perfect the species the higher its position in the rank. As evolution ideas spread, this view of the world started to be questioned. 

2. EVOLUTION BEFORE DARWIN

Throughout the first half of the 19^th century, the works of figures like the French naturalist Jean-Baptiste Lamarck (1744-1829) and other authors in different European countries contributed to circulating evolution ideas not only with regard to the explanation of life but also in respect of the views on human history and society. In spite of this, the explanatory mechanisms proposed were highly contested and a lack of empirical bases prevailed. In addition, ideological reservations –frequently of a religious nature- also became an obstacle to the early dissemination of evolution theory.

3. DARWIN’S TIME

Darwin is a typical example of an English citizen during the prime of the British Empire, one made possible thanks to colonial expansion all over the world and the implementation of changes in society’s economic foundations, with a shift from a farming system to an industrial one. Darwin was born in a well-off family connected to the growing pottery industry in the south of England. The son and grandson of doctors, he could not escape the tradition but soon neglected his medical studies and rejected an ecclesiastical career too.

4. THE WAY TO FAME

Darwin found an opportunity to fulfil his real vocation as a naturalist on his voyage on HMS Beagle and its scientific mission in the southern seas. Between 1831 and 1836, the journey allowed Darwin to have access to numerous geological and biological phenomena that changed his own view on the operation of life and the world. Upon his return to England, Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood and started a family. His prestige as a scientist grew as he wrote different studies based on the materials collected in the expedition and other research. The piece of work that was to bring him the greatest fame was still being matured in silence.

The Beagle, a British Royal Navy ship, on which Darwin travelled and compiled his data on the natural world.

5. FROM ANXIETY TO CONTROVERSY

The idea that species transformed does not stem from Darwin. What Darwin did contribute, though, was the natural selection mechanism to try and explain slow and gradual transformation. Darwin also thought that natural selection caused random variations in individuals within species, this causing some subjects to be better prepared than others. Selection so marked a trend of divergence which separated new species from ancestral ones. In sum, this is the core of Darwin’s theory which he only dared publish when another naturalist, Russel Wallace (1823-1913), sent him a letter in 1858 from Malaysia with similar ideas. Darwin’s friends came up with a solution to do Wallace justice but at the same time respect Darwin’s priority. Darwin finally published his most prominent work, On the Origin of Species, the following year. He delayed the public exposure of his ideas because he was aware of the controversial implications they would bring along. Indeed, he was supported by those seeking a new view of the world and harshly attacked by those anchored in old interpretations of nature.

6. THE PATRIARCH OF EVOLUTION

On the Origin of Species meant a great deal of fame for Darwin but his activity, however, did not wane. He continued writing numerous science books over the following decades. One of the most controversial questions addressed by Darwin in those years was the origin and evolution of humans, as his proposal could be seen as a denial of all the distinctive rights that Western thinking had provided mankind with in order to differentiate it from animals. That only contributed to reinforcing the symbolic aspect of Darwin’s figure. From his home in the small village of Downe, Darwin forged an amazing network of correspondents with whom he would exchange information. His home was also a meeting point for evolution defenders and the venue of research and experimentation.

1882 print of Downe House, Darwin’s home, from where he built a network of scientific correspondence.

7. THE ECLIPSE OF DARWINISM

Staying loyal to Darwinism became a difficult task. Despite their self-definition as Darwinist, very few authors took on Darwin’s postulates to the full. A major problem was the acceptance of evolution as being random. Another one, the fact that natural selection had the potential argued by Darwin. All this led to a revival of Lamarck’s ideas and different directed evolution theories. This explains why Darwinism eclipsed in the late 19^th century and the early 20^th. Darwin managed to make the evolutionary fact plausible but the particular aspects of his proposals were not convincing. Yet, over time, his ideas were finally admitted.

Charles Darwin manuscript and book spine of the first edition of On the Origin of Species

Caricature of Darwin with an ape body, the reflection of criticism to his theory

8. THE NEW DARWINIST SYNTHESIS

Between the 1930s and 1940s, genetics was able to reconcile change mechanisms in hereditary material with natural selection and random variation. Zoologists and botanists offered new studies on the appearance of species based on geographical and environmental circumstances. In turn, palaeontologists adjusted the pace of organic change to geologic time. All this gave prominence back to Darwin’s theories as the basis of our knowledge of evolutionary phenomena.

Cover of the book by T.H. Huxley, Man’s place in nature, and illustration with the skeletons of a gibbon, orang-utan, chimpanzee, gorilla and a man, inspired in Huxley and popularised by Ernst Haeckel: a symbolic image of evolution.

9. EVOLUTION IN VALÈNCIA

València played a significant role in the dissemination of Evolution Theory in Spain. The first dissemination attempts were made by Rafael Cisternas (1818-1876), from Barcelona, a natural history professor. In turn, Peregrí Casanova (1849-1919), an anatomy professor, kept a high profile in the circulation of evolutionary thinking in València while the most relevant scientific contributions along the lines of Evolution Theory were those of the naturalist Eduard Boscà (1843-1924), the author of studies on Iberian reptiles and amphibians and an outstanding palaeontologist.

The most conservative sectors expressed their anti-evolution views. An example is the logic and psychology professor Manuel Polo y Peyrolón (1846-1918) from the Secondary Education Institute of València. Milder opposition examples are also found, with a focus on scientific discussion rather than ideology. The most known Valencian author was Joan Vilanova i Piera (1821-1893), a  palaeontology professor at the Central University (Madrid).

Eduard Boscà

Peregrín Casanova

Joan Vilanova

Cover of the antievolutionary book Supuesto parentesco entre el hombre y el mono, by M. Polo y Peyrolón

Esquema de la divergència, inclòs en L'Origen de les espècies