The Red Notebook
September, 2007
I've just finished reading The Flight of the Iguana by David Quammen, which was kindly sent to me by Michael Barton, FCD, of The Dispersal of Darwin. And a damn fine read it was too.
Glad to hear the tenner arrived OK, Michael.
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Some tosser over at the so-called Discovery Institute seems to think (I use the word loosely) that I should give a flying fart about whether I'm referred to as a Darwinian or a Darwinist.
For the record, I really don't mind. You can call me a screaming atheist monkey-man, for all I care. All that matters to me is that it's perfectly clear to other rational human beings which side of the enlightened/credulous divide it is that I stand on.
I'm experimenting with a new feature in the sidebar on the Friends of Charles Darwin home page and the Red Notebook main page. It's entitled Recent Bookmarks, and provides links to articles and news stories I've come across recently that I think might be of interest. It's not intended to replace this weblog, but it is a handy way to provide links to stuff that I might not have time to write about properly.
For the geeks amongst you, the new facility is powered by del.icio.us and makes use of a special tag entitled focdlink. There's even an RSS feed, if you're that way inclined.
On this date in 1831, Darwin and Fitzroy met for the first time. The following day, Darwin wrote to his sister:
… I write all this as if it was settled but it is not more than it was.—excepting that from Cap. FitzRoy wishing me so much to go, & from his kindness I feel a predestination I shall start.— I spent a very pleasant evening with him yesterday: he must be more than 23 old. he is of a slight figure, & a dark but handsome edition of Mr. Kynaston.—& according to my notions preeminently good manners: He is all for Economy excepting on one point, viz fire arms he recommends me strongly to get a case of pistols like his which cost 60£!!, & never to go on shore anywhere without loaded ones.— & he is doubting about a rifle.— he says I cannot appreciate the luxury of fresh meat here.— Of course I shall buy nothing till every thing is settled: but I work all day long at my lists, putting in & striking out articles.— This is the first really cheerful day I have spent since I received the letter, & it all is owing to the sort of involuntary confidence I place in my beau ideal of a Captain.—
In his autobiography written towards the end of his life, Darwin added:
Afterwards, on becoming very intimate with Fitz-Roy, I heard that I had run a very narrow risk of being rejected, on account of the shape of my nose!When Darwin later became Robert FitzRoy for a place aboard HMS Beagle. FitzRoy, a keen physiognomist, didn't like the shape of Darwin's nose.
Fitzroy was a keen amateur physiognomist.
Darwin's Beagle Diary, 8th September, 1832
… The Gauchos were very civil & took us to the only spot where there was any chance of water. — It was interesting seeing these hardy people fully equipped for an expedition. — They sleep on the bare ground at all times & as they travel get their food; already they had killed a Puma or Lion; the tongue of which was the only part they kept; also an Ostrich, these they catch by two heavy balls, fastened to the ends of a long thong. — They showed us the manner of throwing it; holding one ball in their hands, by degrees they whirl the other round & round, & then with great force send them both revolving in the air towards any object. — Of course the instant it strikes an animals legs it fairly ties them together.
Darwin later had a go at throwing bolas himself. He described his attempt in chapter 3 of The Voyage of the Beagle:
One day, as I was amusing myself by galloping and whirling the balls round my head, by accident the free one struck a bush, and its revolving motion being thus destroyed, it immediately fell to the ground, and, like magic, caught one hind leg of my horse; the other ball was then jerked out of my hand, and the horse fairly secured. Luckily he was an old practised animal, and knew what it meant; otherwise he would probably have kicked till he had thrown himself down. The Gauchos roared with laughter; they cried out that they had seen every sort of animal caught, but had never before seen a man caught by himself.
Darwin brought his bolas home with him. They can still be seen on display at Down House.
(via Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary weblog)
As I report in more detail on my other weblog, while I was in the Liverpool branch of Waterstone's bookshop last Thursday, I took it upon myself to move Michael Behe's creationist book Darwin's Black Box out of the science section and to place it in the religion and spirituality section where it rightly belongs.
It turns out I am not the first to do this.
An interesting example of convergent evolution, perhaps.
On this date in 1835, Charles Darwin first set foot on the Galápagos Islands. He recorded the event in his Beagle Diary:
Sept: 16th
The next day we ran near Hoods Isd & there left a Whale boat. — In the evening the Yawl was also sent away on a surveying cruize of some length. — The weather, now & during the passage, has continued as on the coast of Peru, a steady, gentle breeze of wind & gloomy sky. — We landed for an hour on the NW end of Chatham Isd. — These islands at a distance have a sloping uniform outline, excepting where broken by sundry paps & hillocks. — The whole is black Lava, completely covered by small leafless brushwood & low trees. — The fragments of Lava where most porous
isare reddish & like cinders; the stunted trees show little signs of life. — The black rocks heated by the rays of the Vertical sun like a stove, give to the air a close & sultry feeling. The plants also smell unpleasantly. The country was compared to what we might imagine the cultivated parts of the Infernal regions to be. —
Not a particularly auspicious start for the Galápagos Islands' most famous visitor. But the rest, as they say, is history.
The Friends of Charles Darwin have their 1,800th member. A very big welcome to John S. Dulay of Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
On this date in 1842, Charles Darwin turned his back on the hustle and bustle of London and moved into his new home, Down House, in the village of Down (later Downe) in Kent. His wife Emma had moved in three days earlier.
In a letter to his sister, Emily written a few months earlier, Darwin decribed at length the attractions of the village, then continued:
The house stands very badly close to a tiny lane & near another man's field— Our field is 15 acres & flat, looking into flat-bottomed valleys on both sides, but no view from drawing-room, wh: faces due South except our own flat field & bits of rather ugly distant horizon. […]
House ugly, looks neither old nor new.—walls two feet thick—windows rather small—lower story rather low.— Capital study 18 X 18. Dining room, 21. X 18.— Drawing-room can easily be added to is 21. X 15. Three stories, plenty of bed-rooms— We could hold the Hensleighs & you & Susan & Erasmus all together.— House in good repair Mr Cresy a few years ago laid out for the owner 1500£ and made new roof— Water-pipes over—two bath-rooms—pretty good office & good stable yard & & a cottage.— House in good repair.— I believe the price is about 2200£, & I have no doubt I shall get it for one year on lease first to try.—so that I shall do nothing to house at first.—
Darwin was to live in his ugly house for the remaining 40 years of his life.
I live just 22 miles from Ilkley, West Yorkshire, but my travels almost never take me to that neck of the woods. But, this afternoon, I happened to be passing nearby and finally got to make a long-delayed Darwinian pilgrimage.
Darwin stayed in Ilkley during the autumn of 1859. Officially, he was there for the water treatment, although it has been suggested that it was a convenient hideaway during the publication of Origin of Species that November.
I took plenty of photos during my short visit, including this one of the bath house Darwin used to visit (which was unfortunately closed when I called—I shall return!):
On 14th October, 1859, Darwin wrote to his son William describing Ilkley:
North House, Wells Terrace | Ilkley | Otley | Yorkshire
Friday
My dear William
On Monday they [the rest of Darwin's family] all come from Barlaston to the above address & I leave the Establishment. The House is at the foot of a rocky, turfy rather steep half-mountain. It would be nice with fine weather; but now looks dismal. There are nice excursions & fine walks for those that can walk. The Water Cure has done me much good; but I fell down on Sunday morning & sprained my ancle, & have not been able to walk since & this has greatly interfered with the treatment…
The Establishment Darwin was writing from was Wells House, a large water cure establishment, which I also managed to photograph. The address given at the top of Darwin's letter, where he would relocate to when the family arrived, was the house he was staying at when Origin was published. I managed to get a photo of that too.
I can confirm that the hill down from the bath house is pretty steep. But I had read Darwin's letter before I set off, so was very careful on my descent, and my ankles escaped serious injury.
Apparently, it's International Talk Like a Parrot Day. OK, I'm game…
Squaaaawwk! Who's a pretty boy then?
They're at it again. Sociobiologists are looking for evolutionary explanations for phenomena that don't seem to need them:
New Scientist: Caring grandmas explain evolutionary role of menopause
The menopause may be an ordeal for women experiencing a 'hot flash', but new research suggests it had a good evolutionary cause — freeing women to be good grandmothers.
To be fair, the article does argue that the human menopause requires a special evolutionary explanation because, in other mammals, female reproduction simply stops because of ageing, at a variety of ages. But in humans the shutdown is deliberate and early. And it is genetically controlled, meaning the genes responsible were selected by evolution.
I'm not sure how authorative this genetically controlled argument is. Personally, I had assumed that the human menopause was simply one of those age-related phenomena that is never selected against in old age because it happens after the people concerned have lived long enough to have children and pass on their genes. This still seems like the simplest explanation to me—although I freely admit I could be wrong.
But where do you draw the line? If sociobiologists feel the need to find an evolutionarily advantageous role for the menopause, why not also concoct them for Alzheimer's Disease, diabetes, baldness and wrinkles? All of these are age-related phenomena with a genetic component.
In fact, it might be kind of fun, in a totally pointless way.
The Beagle Project's Nunatak is blogging from Taipei.
I wonder how she managed to get there without a boat.
In celebration of the New York Times's recent decision to allow free access to most of its archives (about time, chaps, but well done anyway), a selection of old articles of interest to Darwin groupies (all in PDF format) [if you experience problems accessing these stories, please see the note below]:
- THE LATE CHARLES DARWIN (24-Apr-1882)
The funeral of the late Charles Darwin will be held at Westminster Abbey on Wednesday, at noon… - DARWIN by Thomas Henry Huxley (21-May-1882)
Acute as were his reasoning powers, vast as was his knowledge, marvelous as was his tenacious industry, under physical difficulties which would have converted nine men out of ten into aimless invalids; it was not these qualities, great as they were, which… - CHARLES DARWIN'S HOME; THE SECLUDED SPOT WHERE HE PASSED SOME FORTY YEARS. (16-May-1882)
The announcement that Mr. Darwin is to be buried in Westminster Abbey will be received with universal approval No other place could so fittingly receive the mortal remains of the greatest scientific discoverer of his age and country. But though public honor will thus go done to his memory, the private dwelling-place of so eminent a man will always remain an object of interest to the educated world… - DARWIN ON VIVISECTION.; EXPERIMENTS ON LIVING ANIMALS NECESSARY TO THE PROGRESS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL STUDY. (30-Apr-1881)
The following letter has been addressed by Mr. Charles Darwin to Prof. Holmgren, of Upsala, in answer to a request for an expression of his opinion on the question of the right to make experiments on living animals for scientific purposes-- a question which is now being much discussed in Sweden… - DARWIN'S BROTHER DEAD.; NAMED ERASMUS AFTER HIS GRANDFATHER, THE DOCTOR--CARLYLE'S ESTIMATE OF HIM. (12-Sep-1881)
We yesterday announced the death of a venerable and estimable man, who bore a distinguished name which did not, however, owe any of its distinction to him. Erasmus Darwin, who died on Friday, at his residence in Queen Anne-street Cavendish-square, was the grandson of the celebrated…
Note: Unfortunately, there appears to be some sort of browser cookie trickery in action which makes stories unavailable if you view too many of them. Clearing your cookies seems to fix the problem. And many of the Scopes Trial stories still appear to be locked behind a paywall… Not so well done after all, chaps!
I love it when science bloggers manage to find time to write lengthy posts about actual science. There have been some particularly fine examples in the last week or so. Here are three which caught my eye:
- Evolving Thoughts: How to review intelligent design: defending Hacking
John Wilkins FCD responds to Jason Rosenhouse's opening salvo against a book review by historian and philosopher, Ian Hacking. Wilkins's main point is that biological history is messy, and we shouldn't pretend otherwise—even if it does muddy the waters when arguing against creationism. - Pharyngula: The Hox code
PZ Myers FCD explains how a small number of genes help to create some order out of the genetic chaos as organisms develop. It gets pretty technical, but not so technical that this particular lay person couldn't follow it. - Laelaps: Beating fossil horses: Creationists take on an "Icon of Evolution"
Brian Switek FCD on how our modern understanding of horse evolution should offer no succour to creationists. Brian is writing out of his socks at the moment. I don't know where he finds the time.
Note: You don't need to have an FCD to get a link around here, but it certainly seems to help.
Rhino, Tickbird Stuck In Dead-End Symbiotic Relationship
POLOKWANE, SOUTH AFRICA—After three rainy seasons together, a black rhinoceros and a parasite-eating tickbird are beginning to suspect that their symbiotic relationship has fallen into a rut, the couple reported Sunday.
"We're really symbiotic—almost too symbiotic," the rhino said. "It's just gotten so predictable lately that I'm starting to wonder, 'Is this all there is?'"
From The Onion, of course.
On this date in 1832, Charles Darwin made a rather important discovery at Punta Alta, near Bahia Blanca, South America. He recorded the find in his Beagle diary:
A large party was sent to fish in a creek about 8 miles distant; great numbers of fish were caught. — I walked on to Punta alta to look after fossils; & to my great joy I found the head of some large animal, imbedded in a soft rock. — It took me nearly 3 hours to get it out: As far as I am able to judge, it is allied to the Rhinoceros. — I did not get it on board till some hours after it was dark. —
The bones were eventually shipped back to Blighty, where the great anatomist Richard Owen identified them as belonging to an extinct giant ground sloth, Megatherium.
Megatherium's close relatives, the tree sloths, still live in South America. In later years, Darwin realised that the fact that surviving species were often found in the same locations as closely related extinct ones suggested a geological succession of organic beings. This realisation helped convince him of the concept of descent with modification: a key element of his theory of evolution.
Professor Frederick Burkhardt, founder and general editor of the Darwin Correspondence Project, has died aged 95.
The ongoing Darwin Correspondence Project is a phenomenal academic achievement. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Professor Burkhardt.
More here.
This morning, I met a chap whose surname is Darwin. He'd come to quote for some work we need doing on the house. I was dying to know, so I asked the obvious question: "Any relation?"
"We don't know, but we've always assumed we must be," he said.
How could you not know? With a surname like that, how could you sleep at night, not knowing for sure whether you were related to the greatest man ever to draw breath? You'd find out, wouldn't you?
Interestingly, the chap lives within spitting distance of Ilkley, where Darwin took the waters when Origin of Species was being published. A nice one for the conspiracy therorists, perhaps.
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