Topics for a Darwin Presentation

Science as we know it today started in 19th century Europe. The British science that Darwin experienced while coming of age reflected the trends in European science. American science lagged behind that in Europe, but with the rise of US universities in the second half of the century, it began to rival the Europeans. Darwin was at the forefront of the creation of biological and geological research. His ground-breaking work on evolution helped legitimize serious biological research in a scientific environment dominated by the chemical and physical sciences. In this presentation, we will examine the scientific world that Darwin’s work entered, its reactions to that work, and the subsequent impact of his work on scientific thinking.

Charles Darwin lived in tumultuous times. From his birth
in 1809 to his death in 1882, England passed from
adjusting to revolutions by the lower classes through the
rise of the middle class in the industrial revolution. Overcrowding and increasing pollution exacerbated the devastating effects of diseases in this pre-antibiotic era. The development of our modern sciences lead to advances in manufacturing and a greater understanding of the natural world. The rise of the British Empire increased social responsibilities and challenged prevailing attitudes about other cultures and peoples. All of this social and scientific ferment caused equal turbulence in atitudes and beliefs in religion. Darwin’s work had an impact on many of these areas and he was forced to respond both professionally and personally to several challenges to his attempts to lead a quiet life. This topic could focus on so many aspects, so let me work with you to frame it to fit your needs.

Slavery in Britain ended in 1772 and in most British colonies in 1833. Charles and Emma Darwin’s families were ardent abolitionists. Emma’s father, Joshua Wedgwood, was especially prominent and created a porcelain cameo with an abolitionist message that became widely fashionable. Charles’ attitudes against slavery were hardened by his experiences in Brazil, a Portuguese colony, where slavery was legal when he visited there on the Beagle voyage. This presentation will recount his experiences there and discuss the lasting impression these
made on his political and scientific thinking. Darwin kept abreast of developments in the US Civil War and in correspondence with Harvard botanist Asa Gray expressed pessimism and then jubilation about the North’s efforts to eradicate slavery. The complex relationship between Britain and the US during this time will also be described in this presentation.

Family was very important to Charles Darwin. Raised by his sisters after his mother died when he was 8 years old, he came to rely on their council. His father was very proper and was concerned that Charles needed to show more interest his future. Ultimately, though, he was a caring father who Charles admired with fondness. In his wife, Emma, Charles found true love, respect and devotion. She was his helpmate through his chronic illnesses and his playmate in social affairs and especially with their children. Their parenting style was rather liberal for their time. Charles’ greatest anxiety was for the effect of his work on Emma, as she was very concerned about his increasing distance from her religious beliefs. The death of their 10-year-old daughter Anne was a soul-crushing tragedy for Charles and Emma, but they supported one another through it and remained strongly committed to their other children throughout their lives. This presentation will share in their family’s stories to sketch a picture of life with the Darwins.

Religious faith was frequently on Darwin’s mind. Both he and his wife Emma were raised in free-thinking Unitarian families. Charles studied for a life as a clergyman, but his allegiance to the 39 principles of theAnglican church was never strong. He had difficulty accepting the idea of eternal punishment for sins and his developing ideas about natural selection increasingly challenged his faith. To the end of his life he was tormented by the distance between his lack of faith and Emma’s fear that they would not be reunited after death. His discoveries about evolution cause a ferment in the established church at the time, but not long after his death Anglicans reconciled their beliefs with his theories. This presentation will discuss Darwin’s personal struggles with religious faith and the religious context in which his work developed.

Like many geniuses, Charles Darwin did not show much promise as a child and young adult. After his early years of
home education, he boarded at a local school where the traditional curriculum was unsuited to the way his brain worked.

Memorization of classic works in the classical languages left him uninspired and bored. He was more taken with collecting and being his brother’s laboratory servant in their home chemistry laboratory. At 16 he attempted medical school where his brother was finishing his studies, but the surgical demonstrations proved too much for him. At the insistence of his father, he switched schools to pursue a course of study to become a country pastor. Upon completion, he lucked on receiving an invitation to sail the world as a naturalist, and his life’s course was set for him at last. We will explore his journey growing up in a world of relative luxury, but of stultifying formal education. We’ll recount his wayward ways at University as he picked up scientific skills outside the classroom that served him well in his life’s work.

Before his voyage, Charles Darwin’s world was very narrow. His associates were largely of his social class, though he lived in large cities among different classes when he went to University. He befriended a black man while in school who taught him taxidermy. On the Beagle voyage he encountered people and cultures from around the world. Although his ideas about other cultures were shaped by 19th century British upper class attitudes, he developed some attitudes that were more enlightened by today’s standards. His disdain for slavery, shaped by his experiences with it in South America, was strong and made him a powerful voice in discussions of British policy during the American Civil War. His thoughts on people in less developed lands were benevolent, but rather paternal. We’ll explore the complex relationship he had with people different than him and how attitudes in his time have shaped attitudes today.

For almost five years, Charles Darwin sailed on the HMS Beagle as its naturalist and as the companion to its captain Robert Fitzroy. He left Plymouth dockyard a naïve 22-year-old, not yet a “finished naturalist” according to his mentor John Henslow. Despite nearly constant sea sickness, a month-long fever that nearly killed him, and bouts of home sickness, he proved to be a sturdy sailor. He took many tracks inland across South America, exploring jungles, climbing the Andes, observing human cultures, and riding with the gauchos on the pampas. He saw the Islands of the South Pacific, and toured Australia and South Africa. On these journeys, he collected specimens and thought deeply about the patterns of life, patterns that shaped his thoughts of evolution. Travel with him in this presentation as he recounts stories of his journeys and his life at sea aboard the Beagle.

The Galápagos Islands stood out in Darwin’s mind as a key destination in his travels. He anticipated a tremendous opportunity to witness exciting geology and wildlife. Though the geology disappointed, the wildlife was beyond his expectations. This presentation chronicles his observations and his thoughts about the nature of life while on the Islands. His limitations as a budding naturalist became apparent to him later as a result of his errors in collecting there. In spite of this, his collections were pivotal in his developing theory of natural selection.