NPR seeks Darwin in Cambridge

For the upcoming 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, what better place for NPR to trace his roots than at Cambridge University.
Weekend Edition Sunday sent a correspondent to the Sedgwick Museum, where they’ll be digging deep into Darwin’s own specimen and fossil collection, and the Cambridge University Library, where they’ve interviewed our own Alison Pearn, of [...]

Darwin Letter Friday

From Lima, Darwin yearns for a roaring fire in merry old England, while looking forward to visiting the Galapagos Islands; chiefly for geological reasons.
To William Darwin Fox [9–12 August] 1835
Lima
July,1 1835

My dear Fox,

I have lately received two of your letters, one dated June2 & the other November 1834. (—They reached me however in an inverted [...]

Darwin Letter Friday

From Mauritius, most of the way home to England after years at sea, Darwin recalls some of the highlights of his journey in a letter to his sister Caroline. He and the entire crew are very homesick, and it shows — much of his letter is occupied with musings about the publication of his field [...]

Galapagos Pink Iguana Discovered

Here at Cambridge, when we hear “Galapagos,” we think Darwin. Many people do. But he didn’t catalog all of the strange creatures there. 150 years after Darwin’s visit the islands, scientists have discovered a new, pink iguana that dwells on a single volcano.
Bloomberg story >>
Don’t fret, Charles, it’s not your fault that you didn’t find [...]

Darwin Letter Friday

I love this letter. It’s a very cool peek into colonial Australia (Tasmania, really) through the eyes of Charles Darwin, of all people.
Darwin is amazed that the level of social refinement in Hobart Town. There are fancy balls, all attended to by convicts. Beautiful furnishings, stately homes — it’s the perfect place, Darwin says, for [...]