Keeping it in the Family

As suggested in an earlier blog post, Darwin was something of a reluctant bride groom. His chief concern about getting married and having children centred on the loss of freedom it would entail and, of course, the impact that this would have on his work. For Darwin, becoming a husband and father meant entering a [...]

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The Reluctant Bride Groom?

In April 1838, on the back of a letter he’d received earlier in the month, Charles Darwin scribbled down the pros and cons of becoming a married man . As an ambitious young Naturalist who had travelled the world on The Beagle and recently begun to formulate his work on the transmission of species, it’s perhaps unsurprising [...]

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Talking to Naturalists

Charles Darwin correspondended with a large number of women, many of whom were the wives of some of his closest scientific associates.  Looking at the letters exchanged between Darwin and these women reminds us not only of the interconnectedness of Darwin’s personal and professional circles, but also of the difficulties that we face in trying [...]

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