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Darwin: Caught Between Catastrophism And Gradualism 

This past Saturday was Guru Purnima and I thought I would share a short post on two of Charles Darwin's mentors who had a big influence on him particularly in the early days of his scientific career. Adam Sedgwick and Charles Lyell were both geologists whom Darwin looked to for advice and inspiration. Although Darwin had a rather broad training in natural history, he initially considered

Darwin: Citizen Science 

After his return to England in 1836 from a five year round the world trip aboard the Beagle, Darwin did not travel again for any extended fieldwork. His home became his study and his laboratory, but he was no lonely isolated genius. His ideas stemmed from data that streamed in from all over the world. From Darwin: The Life of a Tormented Evolutionist Down House had become the hub of

A vida de Charles Darwin em Banda Desenhada 

A vida de Charles Darwin (1809- 1882) é agora retratada numa banda desenhada em dois volumes de óptima qualidade e que recomendamos. Os autores são o explorador suíço Christian Clot, da Societé des Explorateurs Français e o ilustrador italiano Fabio Bono. A editora é a Gradiva. O primeiro volume, lançado em Janeiro de 2019, aborda as viagens no Beagle enquanto que o segundo volume aborda os dilemas de Darwin, as reacções ao livro e o confronto com o capitão Fitzroy, tendo sido [...]

Darwin: Househunting In London 

via Darwin: The Life Of A Tormented Evolutionist: Adrian Desmond and James Moore after his engagement to Emma Wedgwood in November 1838.. The couple took the Doctor's advice and opted for a London house until Charles said, 'I have wearied the geological public with my newly acquired cacoethes scribendi [itch to write].' Then they would 'decide, whether the pleasures of retirement &

An icon lost: The Hayward fault’s Rose/Prospect curb 

Certain places are prized by geologists, especially teachers, for their educational value. Out-of-towners make pilgrimages to them. Sure we all enjoy the Grand Canyon, but real geologists have Siccar Point, Darwin’s outcrop, the Carlin unconformity and other obscure sites on their life lists. One of those places was right nearby in Hayward, until very recently.

Mendel's 1st Paper Published & Ignored 

In 1865, Gregor Mendel, who first discovered the laws of genetics, read his first scientific paper to the Brünn Society for the study of Natural Sciences in Moravia (published 1866). He described his investigations with pea plants. Although he sent 40 reprints of his article to prominent biologists throughout Europe, including Darwin, only one was interested enough to reply. Most of

Born This Day: Theodosius Dobzhansky 

Dobzhansky (Jan.25, 1900–Dec. 18, 1975) is noted for being one of the architects of the modern Synthetic Theory of evolution. During the first 20 years of the 20th century, Darwin's theory of natural selection had fallen out of favor among scientists. Many thought it insufficient to explain the origin of adaptations, while new discoveries of gene mutations seemed to them to be incompatible

Born This Day Alfred Russel Wallace 

Wallace (Jan. 8, 1823 – Nov. 7, 1913) was a British naturalist and biogeographer. He was the first westerner to describe some of the most interesting natural habitats in the tropics. He is best known for devising a theory of the origin of species through natural selection made independently of Darwin. Between 1854 and 1862, Wallace assembled evidence of natural selection in the Malay

Died This Day: Theodosius Dobzhansky 

Dobzhansky (Jan.25, 1900–Dec. 18, 1975) is noted for being one of the architects of the modern Synthetic Theory of evolution. During the first 20 years of the 20th century, Darwin's theory of natural selection had fallen out of favor among scientists. Many thought it insufficient to explain the origin of adaptations, while new discoveries of gene mutations seemed to them to be incompatible

Darwin, Owen, Huxley, os dinossauros e as mãos das estátuas 

Charles Darwin (1809 – 1882) lidou muito com fósseis mas pouco ou nada com dinossauros. Contudo, alguns dos seus colegas trabalharam com este grupo de animais. Entre eles, destaca-se Richard Owen (1804 –1892), praticamente arquinimigo de Darwin, mas teve um papel brilhante para a História Natural na criação do Museu de História Natural de Londres. Richard Owen era um brilhante anatomista e também é o autor da palavra dinossauro na [...]

A Árvore da Vida antes da Origem das Espécies 

Sabia que já se desenhavam árvores da vida antes da Origem das Espécies? Quem desenhou uma das primeiras e mais elaboradas árvores dos seres animais foi a canadiana Anna Maria Redfield (1800-1888) que era coleccionadora vigorosa, estudiosa da vida animal, e brilhante ilustradora, mas curiosamente tão esquecida que nem sequer tem uma entrada na wikipédia. Redfield é das primeiras mulheres a desenvolver contributos importantes na sistemática e taxonomia.Em 1857 é publicada a [...]

Died This Day: Alfred Russel Wallace 

Wallace (Jan. 8, 1823 – Nov. 7, 1913) was a British naturalist and biogeographer. He was the first westerner to describe some of the most interesting natural habitats in the tropics. He is best known for devising a theory of the origin of species through natural selection made independently of Darwin. Between 1854 and 1862, Wallace assembled evidence of natural selection in the Malay

The End is Just the Beginning 

We're coring our last hole of our last site of our last week of expedition 356. Everyone's a little tired and frazzled after two months at sea, away from their family and friends, with only the Pet Wall for company. And pretty soon we'll be putting in at Darwin, celebrating, and then going our separate ways. This might seem like an ending, but for the scientists, this is only the beginning of the expedition. These two months at sea [...]

Darwin's Encounter with a Chilean Earthquake 

Last week, Chile suffered a massive magnitude 8.3 earthquake. You can read the USGS's summary here, and an overview of the science behind it here. Thanks to excellent earthquake preparedness, even a... -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Darwin: Ancestry In Lyell's Pebbles And Hershcel's Words 

A lovely passage from the 19th century astronomer John Herschel's  letter to geologist Charles Lyell quoted in Darwin: The Life Of A Tormented Evolutionist: Words are to the Anthropologist what rolled pebbles are to the Geologist- Battered relics of past ages often containing within them indelible records capable of intelligible interpretation- and  when we see what amounts of change 2000

Darwin: Encounters In Patagonia and Peru 

I'm late by a few days for a Darwin Day 2015 post but wanted to share a couple of passages from Darwin's biography by Adrian Desmond and James Moore which show more facets of his life and personality. During the survey of Patagonia,  Darwin took to exploring the immense pampas on his  own, hiring guides and horses and living the life  of a gaucho. He was enjoying himself and yet there was

Happy Darwin Day! 

Today is Darwin’s birthday, and ‘A global celebration of science and reason‘. Of course, here in the Geology Castle, every day is a global celebration of science and reason, but we’re happy for any excuse to celebrate the great man. (And … Continue reading

Darwin Did Geology, Too! A Collection of Quotes for Your Darwin Day Enjoyment 

It’s Darwin Day! Celebrating Darwin’s birthday is a lot of fun, and if you know the right skeptic’s group, there may be cake. With dinosaurs! But the reason why many Darwin Day... -- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Darwin: An Encounter With Beetles 

In 1827 Charles Darwin's father Robert Darwin, alarmed that his son was turning into  a wastrel, decided to enroll him at Cambridge with the ultimate  aim of preparing Charles Darwin for a life as a country parson. This would set him up for life among the country gentry he already knew and was comfortable with. Charles's unhappy tryst with medical school in Edinburgh had disappointed his

Evolution of life in 60 seconds 

Have you tried the activity 'Time-line in your own backyard'? This is part of our 'Evolution' series. We have also published this video clip created by Claire Evans for Darwin 200 to accompanythe activity. Evolution of the Life on Earth in 60 seconds Over the next few weeks, we shall be publishing more exciting Earthlearningideas to help teachers with this topic. Next week there