Visiting Mr. Darwin - for real! (I think)

Tomorrow June 8th my wife and I leave for London. Granted, I'm SUPPOSED to be going there to run a tradeshow for our company, and that WILL get done. But on June 15th (after paying my tradeshow dues) we plan to rent a car and travel to Down House to spend the day. We (my wife and I) tend to travel somewhat "spontaneously" with a minimum of "set-in-concrete" plans - and we'll see how that works on this little outing.

Cheers!

Spelling - Devil in the Details

Helen Stephenson has answered a question that has bothered me for some time. That was the question of the spelling of "Downe" or "Down", you seem to see it used interchangably in writing. According to Helen, "Downe" is spelling for the village near Mr. Darwin's home and "Down" is the spelling for the house "Down House". Many appologies for any confusion on the author's part. Future postings will adhere to this spelling.

Many Happy Returns

I felt compelled to post today, even though I really don’t have the time. What’s the occasion? - Mr. Darwin’s 198?th birthday. Yes, another year slipped by. Having his way, I believe Mr. Darwin would have not made a big to-do about it. A normal prolific work day followed by a quiet dinner at home with Emma and possibly the children and some reading, music or games before retiring. However, I also feel that Emma or Mr. Darwin’s brother or his friends would not have allowed the occasion slip away without some “to-do”. So, I’d use the noise-maker if I had one and wish Mr. Darwin a happy birthday with many happy returns!

Just a note: I feel compelled to acknowledge that February 12th is also the birth date for my Father and Mr. Abraham Lincoln – it seems it was a prolific day for great men to be born.

Predicting Existence

This is somewhat off-topic or off-trend - well, different. I've seen this story a number of times in different ways, but it has always struck me that when you have a theory that allows you to make specific predictions that are ultimately proven correct, even more than 40 years later, you've got a pretty powerful tool.

Short version - after examining a very unique species of orchid, Mr. Darwin predicted that a very unique species of moth must exist in order to propigate the orchid species - and guess what - 41 years later someone found it.

The moth Xanthopan morgani praedicta and the star orchid Angraecum sesquipedale

British Ordnance Survey Maps - Downe House

The maps I ordered from the Ordnance Survey in GB finally were finally delivered. Personalized maps (their OS Select product) centered on Downe House (well, on the postal code for Downe House - so in reality they're probably centered on the village of Downe). The red map is their "Landranger" series at a 1:50,000 scale (2 cm = 1 km; 1.5 inches to 1 mile); the orange map is their "Explorer" series at a scale of 1:25,000 (4 cm = 1 km - 2.5 inches to 1 mile). Whats really cool is that you have the option of titling the maps - "Downe House, Visiting Mr. Darwin June, 2007" really personalizes the maps for the upcoming pilgrimage. Anyway, The Ordnance Survey is to GB what the USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) is to the States. Great source of travel and place information for anywhere in GB. I think I'm going to have a great deal of fun with these maps, both in these posts and on the actual trip.

Route Canary Warf to Downe Village

Test Journey Planner Route Canary Warf (London) to Downe Village:

All about the village of Downe

Village of Downe

The Hand of Mr. Darwin

Hand drawings from Mr. Darwin's notebooks + a podcast titled "Understanding Charles Darwin" - I have not listened to the podcast, but the drawings are great!

Old Travel Advisory - Reserved Tickets?

An old 1998 travel advisory from the NY Times indicates that trckets to Downe House must be reserved at least 1 day in advance -

Down House is on Luxted Road, Downe, Kent. It is open through Oct. 31, Wednesday to Sunday 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. or dusk; and from Nov. 1 to Jan. 31, Wednesday to Sunday 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. Entrance is by timed tickets, which must be reserved at least a day in advance and cost $8.60, $4.30 for children. Telephone: (44-870) 603-0145.

Hiatus??

Been a loooong time since my last post, but I’m not worried since this blog is mainly for my personal satisifaction and use. Frankly, I have not really had much Darwinian to say – very busy.

However recently I realized I’m only about six months from the pilgrimage to Downe and it seems that I’ve become somewhat obsessed about getting there – you know, maps, transport and the like. I been scouring the web about travel options.

Some interesting (and possibly useful) “getting there” sites I’ve uncovered:

Biggin Hill Bus Routes
London Bus Routes
Transport for London - Journey Planner
London Borough Map
BBC London Travel
Ordinance Maps
Transport for London
Transport for London - Street Management
Street Map - UK
Story of Biggin Hill
Tube Guru
Docklands Light Railway
Orpington Railway Station
Map of London
MultiMap - Map of UK
London Hotels

Digitally Definitive Mr. Darwin

The www is just chock-full of Darwin sites/indormation - I've probably collected one to two hundred myself, but when I need some definitive Mr. Darwin info - these are my first three stops:

The Complete Work of Charles Darwin currently contains more than 50,000 searchable text pages and 40,000 images of both publications and handwritten manuscripts. There is also the most comprehensive Darwin bibliography ever published and the largest manuscript catalogue ever assembled. More than 150 ancillary texts are also included, ranging from secondary reference works to contemporary reviews, obituaries, published descriptions of Darwin's Beagle specimens and important related works for understanding Darwin's context.

All About Darwin was created by David Leff, an amateur scholar of the History of Science, with a focus on scientific developments during the Victorian era (around 1835 to 1900).

The Darwin Correspondence Project exists to publish the definitive edition of letters to and from Charles Darwin, the most influential naturalist of the 19th century: when complete the series will comprise approximately 30 volumes, and is intended for both scholars and general readers. There is also one volume of Selected letters with two more planned.

Mr. Darwin and the Racing Asparagus

The subject matter for this entry was really brought to my attention by a good friend of mine and a loyal member of my small, yet prestigious, "Dennis is interested in anything about Darwin" network - THANKS Robert!

The link is to a report (listen to the report) by NPR's Robert Krulwich on an aspect of a relatively new Darwin book titled, "The Reluctant Mr. Darwin" by David Quammen (blog reading list). I just finished this read - it's great! - I always enjoy Quammen's writing (see the blog reading list above).

Anyway, It seems that Mr. Darwin became very interested in the geographical dispersion of plant and animal species. Doesn't sound like a very risky subject, right? But in the Victorian religious world it was. Mr. Darwin came to believe that plants and animals got to where they were (or where they weren't) pretty much under their own steam (so to speak) - mainly dispersion by floating across oceans - and to try an prove it he and his butler (manservant?) began soaking plant seeds in simulated seawater and then seeing if they still germinated - with interesting, sometimes stinking, slimey and amusing results - although Mr. Darwin was "drop-dead" serious about these experiments.

Speaking of experiments, the report's sidebar includes links to some interesting amateur science sites:

In the Spirit of Discovery (article sidebar)

To piece together his theories of evolution and natural selection, Darwin relied in part on the observations of amateur scientists. That is, his children, his neighbors and their children and multiple correspondents. Below, links exploring the contributions of other great amateur scientists from the past and organizations that encourage an everyman spirit of discovery:

Society for Amateur Scientists
Amateur Scientists
Backyard Astronomy
Denver Mad Scientists Club
Great Amateurs in Science
Victorian-Era Amateur Science Experiments (great, fun site!)

“Darwin Groupies”

In case you didn’t know, one of the objectives of this blog (other than not to have any objectives) was to document all things pertinent to a visit Mr. Darwin’s home that I’m planning for next year while on a business trip to England (What’s this all about?).

In preparation, and also because I am a huge Darwin fan, I’ve been reading the Darwin tomes written by Janet Browne (Volume 1 – “Voyaging” and Volume 2 – “A Sense of Place”). In the second volume I ran across some very interesting material concerning Mr. Darwin’s feelings about “visitors.”

It seems that as Mr. Darwin’s fame grew (like most of the rich, famous, beautiful and influential) he acquired groupies – “Darwin groupies”, but they didn’t call them that in his day. I think that in Mr. Darwin’s time they were simply known as “pests", or worse yet for Mr. Darwin, a waste of time. Even his mail (post?) became increasingly filled with every sort of crackpot idea, proposal and demand that you could imagine – his equivalent of “junk” mail, I guess.

Beginning in her second volume on page 381 in section III, Browne begins to write about the people who wanted to see Mr. Darwin. Throughout the 1870s and 1880s a stream of visitors attempted to see Mr. Darwin at Downe House (p.382). Downe House was intimidating in appearance to the uninvited – the private domain of a privileged and well-off Englishman. But regardless, people still came. Many visitors regarded a meeting with Mr. Darwin as a turning point in their lives. I'm a little old for "turning points" (however you never know) but I wonder how standing in Mr. Darwin's house, surrounded by his personal posessions might affect me - sounds like fodder for another (later) blog entry. Browne maintains that Mr. Darwin was uncertain whether some visitors were taking undue advantage. In many of these circumstances, Mr. Darwin’s widely-known “fragile health” served him well – as the ultimate excuse to cut short or avoid visitors when he felt it necessary. The famous visited Mr. Darwin as well. Notables of the time like Thomas Carlyle in 1875; Samuel Smiles in 1876; Thomas Edward in 1876; George Eliot in 1873.

I hope that Mr. Darwin doesn’t look down unkindly on my visit (pilgrimage?) to his ancestral home at Downe. Even though he doesn’t know me from any of the other visitors who invade his private spaces each year, I’d like to think that he no longer minds having visitors, and possibly even smiles at the modern trials they endure to come for a visit.

Saturday Afternoon with Mr. Darwin

"Better than a dog anyhow."

Mr. Darwin had odd (but characteristically "Darwinian") views concerning the subject of marriage. Early on, speaking frankly with his Father, Dr. Darwin, Mr. Darwin asked should he opt for married life and poverty in London ("like a prisoner") or married life and poverty in Cambridge ("like a fish out of water")? Dr. Darwin assured his son that his inheritance would insure that Mr. Darwin was always confortably provided for (Browne "voyaging" p. 378) - Ah, good ol' Dad's money - who says you can't inherit happiness? With that "burden" lifted Mr. Darwin began looking at the question of marriage differently. True to his nature, he constructed the following document now titled "Marry" or "Not Marry"?:

Mr. Darwin divided the document vertically and titled one side "Marry" and the other side "Not Marry". Now I know that this picture is somewhat hard to read in its original format, so here is basically what each side says:

Marry
Children (if it Please God)

Constant companion (and friend in old age) who will feel interested in one

Object to be beloved and played with.

Better than a dog anyhow

Home, & someone to take care of house

Charms of music and female chit-chat

These things good for one’s health—but terrible loss of time

My God, it is intolerable to think of spending one’s whole life, like a neuter bee, working, working, and nothing after all—No, no, won’t do

Imagine living all one’s day solitary in smoky dirty London House

Only picture to yourself a nice soft wife on a sofa with good fire and books and music perhaps

Compare this vision with the dingy reality of Great Marlboro Street, London

Not Marry
Freedom to go where one liked

Choice of Society and little of it

Conversation of clever men at clubs

Not forced to visit relatives and bend in every trifle

Expense and anxiety of children

Perhaps quarrelling

Loss of Time

Cannot read in the evenings

Fatness and idleness

Anxiety and responsibility

Less money for books etc.

If many children forced to gain one’s bread (But then it is very bad for one’s health to work too much)

Perhaps my wife won’t like London; then the sentence is banishment and degradation into indolent, idle fool

************

Darwin was twenty-nine when he wrote this, and had been living, presumably in grand bachelor style, in London for almost two years. His five-year voyage on the HMS Beagle was done, and both his age and status brought marriage to mind. Clearly Mr. Darwin was facing the same dilemma that many folks face even today - career? / family?

O.K., so if Mr. Darwin were to marry, the question then becomes "Who to marry?" All this bar-hopping, dating, flowers, meeting the parents and long moon-lit strolls just WERE NOT Mr. Darwin's style - all this romantic love crap were not necessary and he didn't have the time or the prediliction for such nonsense. So how does Mr. Darwin solve this problem?

Well, he marches straight over to his first cousin's place (the Wedgwood's - who made a butt load of money of their own making pottery) and visits the youngest of those cousins, Emma Wedgwood. Mr. Darwin sticks around for about three days making small talk (no proposal) and then promptly turns around and heads back to London (he had lots of work to do and bigger fish to fry there!). Oh yes, here's what "Dear merry little Emma" looks like:

Emma is about one year older than Mr. Darwin and just about the only Wedgwood cousin left that was "marriage-able." About three or four months later in November (after he's done frying bigger fish in London), Mr. Darwin heads back to Maer Hall (the Wedgwoods house), immediately proposes to Emma and is "stunned" when she accepts - what the hell does he do now? Both Mr. Darwin and Emma were "underwhelmed" by the situation and carried on just as normal. Mr. Darwin took off for Shrewsbury (his Dad's house) to ask his permission to marry - a social detail - and the match was immediately accepted. A match of "great convenience" for everyone concerned. The fortunes (considerable) of both families stayed "in the family", and Mr. Darwin had a wife "better than a dog anyhow."

Well, they were married on 29 January 1839 - no honeymoon, no huffery and puffery - straight back to London. Even though this account sounds cold and loveless, their love and respect grew. Emma Darwin was Mr. Darwin's only lover, friend, cheerleader, nurse, confidant and keeper until his death on April 19, 1882. I'd say he chose wisely.

A “Victorian Networker”

In an earlier blog entry I posed some questions concerning Mr. Darwin’s use of the Internet (had it existed) and would its use have been a help or a hindrance to his thinking/discovering process. Since that entry I have completed Janet Brown’s first volume about Mr. Darwin (“Voyaging”) and am well into her second (“The Power of Place”). I’m also reading David Quammen’s new publication “The Reluctant Mr. Darwin.”

All of these publications stress how much of a “Victorian Networker” Mr. Darwin was. A “Victorian Networker” is someone who voraciously and copiously corresponds (via handwritten letters) with a wide variety of individuals. Mr. Darwin was apparently a very good letter-writer and didn’t hesitate to use that skill to cajole, beg, ask and demand friends, acquaintances and total strangers to assist him with gathering the factoids, observations and information he needed to fuel and substantiate his thinking and creative processes.

I recently found this 1999 document:

http://www.csuchico.edu/~curban/DarwinMiscSep99.html#AnchorTopofPaper

I believe that this document is material for one of Dr. Charles F. Urbanowicz’s (Professor of Anthropology, California State University, Chico) classes. In it I found this very interesting exert:

Darwin made several intuitive leaps based on his background, education, and training and he enlightened us all. I believe the WWW is a powerful tool that Charles R. Darwin would have willingly used! Michael Rose (Professor of EvolutionaryBiology at UC, Irvine) sums up "search engines" on the WWW as follows:

"The real world cares little for academic categories and conventions. The serious movers and shakers of every stripe often meet each other and appropriate each other's ideas. Themes from one area then show up in another, as poetry becomes politics becomes philosophy and then science." Michael R. Rose, 1998, Darwin's Spectre: Evolutionary Biology In The Modern World, page 192.

The WWW is powerful if one knows how to use it. It is not going to go away and Darwin would have loved it! One should read Darwin in the original and form your own opinion and not necessarily accept the opinion of others. In his 1876 Autobiography, Darwin wrote that at the time of Origin he could be viewed as a theist, or one who had the conviction of the existence of God. Perspectives change over time and in 1876 Darwin stated: "The mystery of the beginning of all things is insoluble by us; and I for one must be content to remain an Agnostic." (Nora Barlow, Editor, 1958, The Autobiography Of Charles Darwin 1809-1882, page 94). Darwin had his final and fatal heart attack on the 19th of April 1882. He made no deathbed statement as to his faith, but had he been asked the question: "Darwin, have you made peace with God?" perhaps he would have chosen to respond with the words attributed to Thoreau (1817-1862) on his deathbed, who is said to have responded to that question with: "I didn't know we had quarreled."

So, I have to admit, that had the Internet existed, Mr. Darwin would have almost certainly have used it to collect much more information much more quickly. But I’m still unsure whether or not this abundance of “quick” information would have ultimately aided his thinking and creative process.

I’ve also recently become a reader of the “slow leadership” blog which basically advises that the “quick/first answer” may not always be the “best” answer. I think there are connections here, but I don’t have time to think about it right now – I’ve got to go make some “quick” decisions.

Mr. Darwin says. . .

"I may, of course, be egregiously wrong; but I cannot persuade myself that a theory which explains several large classes of facts can be wholly wrong.“
- Charles Darwin, November 13, 1859, in letter to L. Jenyns

"Mathematicians are blind men in a dark room searching for a black cat that isn't there."
- Charles Darwin, sourcing unknown

"It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change."
- Charles Darwin, sourcing unknown

Partial Book Report on Janet Browne’s “Voyaging” or "The Dog Ate My Homework."

I’ve been reading Janet Browne’s book “Voyaging”, the first of a two-book bio of Mr. Darwin’s life and work (see the reading list in one of my earlier blog entries). Anyway, I don’t get much opportunity to read – usually only and hour or so before bed most nights. Like an excuse to my elementary school teacher, “this is why I’m only half-way through the book.” I’ve just arrived at the point in the book where the H.M.S. Beagle landed in the Galapagos Islands.

I’ve been blown away thus far with Ms. Browne’s work. Her research and through knowledge of the subject matter paints a rich and detailed picture of Mr. Darwin – possibly too “rich” for some readers who aren’t interested in the myriad of details being woven into a life “well-lived”.

However, the details to me are important because they begin to show how Mr. Darwin is really is a summation of the efforts and interests of many individuals, Mr. Darwin included.


One particular point that stands out and is unknown or misunderstood by most people is that Mr. Darwin was NOT selected to serve as the “Naturalist” onboard the H.M.S. Beagle. He was chosen only to be Captain’s Fitzroy’s (pictured at left) “companion”. Due to 19th century social stratification, if it were no for Darwin, Captain Fitzroy would have had no one to interact with during the voyage because of his social status. Also, because Mr. Darwin paid his own way throughout the Beagle voyage, whatever samples he collected were his personal property not the property of the crown. At this time natural history collections and samples were worth their weight in gold – they were in very high demand by both institutions and private “collectors”. According the Browne, the net total of drafts he requested from his father was just short of 1,200 British pounds – it’s a very expensive endeavor being a “gentleman-naturalist.”

A majority of this cost was due to land excursions taken at many points during the voyage. Mr. Darwin was away from home for a total of five (5) years, but only 18 months of this was at sea aboard the Beagle. The usual ocean run was between 8 and 18 days with the longest single stretch onboard being 47 days. Amazing! Although most of us know of Mr. Darwin’s “voyage”, few of us know that the majority of this “voyage” took place on land. These extensive (sometimes up to four months) land expeditions were only possible because of Mr. Darwin’s privileged position onboard as Captain Fitzroy’s “campanion.”

Who's Buried in Darwin's Tomb?

I know, I know – but I couldn’t resist the "cheeky" title for this entry.

Since the goal of this exercise is to visit Mr. Darwin’s home (Downe House) next year while I'm in London on business (see the first entry in this blog, “What’s this all about?”), it would be a real travesty on my part if I neglected to also visit the place where Mr. Darwin eventually ended up - since I’ll be in the neighborhood (London).

It turns out that Mr. Darwin ended up in a pretty classy place (Westminster Abby, north aisle of the Nave) and in the company of some pretty stellar scientific names like Sir Isaac Newton and Sir John Herschel.

Even though (or maybe because) the inscription on his grave is short, simple and to-the-point, a bronze memorial, with a life-sized relief bust, was erected by his family in the north choir aisle, near to the grave, in 1888. The sculptor was Sir J.E. Boehm. The inscription just simply reads “DARWIN”.

Interesting (prophetic?) footnote here – Mr. Darwin’s birthday, February 12th, is the same date as my Father’s and only two days before mine and my oldest son's.

Even though the place where Mr. Darwin ended up is pretty swank, the simplicity of his monument seems to say a lot about the man, his character and his life.

Covering Up

I decided to put a cover on my VMD (Visiting Mr. Darwin) moleskine reporter notebook. Actually, it was purposely engineered to cover up an ugly stain of my own creation. Anyway, I've always wanted to decorate a moleskine notebook and have recently been inspired by some of the notebooks I've seen on Flickr and elsewhere on the web. I'm not a artist (although I believe that we all have some artist within us and are usually just afraid to let it get loose), but in the image collage I wanted to portray some of the important aspects of Mr. Darwin's life and work - the H.M.S. Beagle, His home at Downe, and something portraying him and his work (the portrait and the finch beak illustration, respectively).

I'm hoping for inspiration and perseverance with this notebook. Maybe a little visual stimuli will help.

Then and Now

Found a very interesting picture of Downe (I don't know whether you use the final "e" in Downe or not?) House in Janet Browne's book, "Voyaging." Interesting comparison of the Downe House in 1842 and today - I guess its a real tribute to the restortation effort.

Downe House then - 1842
and Downe House now -

Mr. Darwin's Technology & Process

Just had Saturday morning coffee with Robert. Among other subject we discussed this blog and my affinity to all things Darwinian. Technology came up and I want to jot a few points that I have alluded to in earlier posts.

From the beginning I wanted to make the “Visiting Mr. Darwin” mini-project a “dual technology” effort. My Moleskine notebook represents Mr. Darwin’s technology, while this blog represents today’s technology (my technology). I’ve often wondered how things would have been different had the Internet and blogging been available in Victorian England. Would Mr. Darwin have used the Internet, blogging, IM, cell phones? I wonder if Mr. Darwin’s life-long accomplishments would have been aided or hindered by these “wondrous” technological capabilities? I have come to believe that “time” is an important component in any endeavor. Mr. Darwin’s circumstances gave him the time to pursue his interests. Critical time to think, ponder, question, formulate, observe and correlate. Does today’s technology have the affect of shortening the time available? And is that a good thing?

I think I’ll take some time to think about that. . .

Above: my "work environment" - where I live and work for 40-50+ hours per week.

Below: Mr. Darwin's "work enviornment" (his study) at Downe House. Given a choice of where to work I think I'd perfer Darwin's. . .

Reading about Mr. Darwin

Well, as long as I am posting lists here is a listing of books and DVDs. In no particular order, mixed non-fiction/fiction, some I've read, some I'm reading and some I will read. . . But I will tell you that the book that started it all for me was actually one of fiction - it was my first reading (some 30 years ago, I think. . .) of Irving Stone's "Origin" (I've re-read it countless times since). Stone has written a number of historical fiction novels - they all are backed up by massive and meticulous research into the subject matter. His writing shares a real excitment and feel for the subject matter - it transports you.

Books (Fiction/Nonfiction)
Darwin And The Beagle by Alan Moorehead (Author)

Charles Darwin: The Power of Place by E. Janet Browne

Charles Darwin: Voyaging by E. Janet Browne

From So Simple a Beginning: Darwin's Four Great Books (Voyage of the H.M.S. Beagle, The Origin of Species, The Descent of Man, The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals) by Charles Darwin, Edward O. Wilson (Editor)

The Reluctant Mr. Darwin: An Intimate Portrait of Charles Darwin and the Making of His Theory of Evolution (Great Discoveries) (Great Discoveries) by David Quammen

Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution by Randal Keynes

The Origin by Irving Stone (Author)

Darwin: The Indelible Stamp; The Evolution Of An Idea by James D. Watson (Editor)

Darwin Day Collection One: The Single Best Idea Ever by Amanda Chesworth (Editor)

More Letters of Charles Darwin: A record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. Volume 1 by Charles Robert Darwin

More Letters of Charles Darwin: A record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. Volume 2 by Charles Robert Darwin

Charles Darwin: Edited by Andrew Lang by Charles Grant Blairfindie Allen

Alfred Russel Wallace: A Life by Peter Raby

Ever Since Darwin by Stephen J. Gould

DVDs
Genius Boxed Set - Galileo, Leonardo da Vinci, Darwin DVD ~ Genius Box Set

Icons Of Evolution DVD ~ Brian Boorujy

Evolution: Darwin's Dangerous Idea DVD ~ Original Soundtrack

Evolution Boxed Set DVD ~ Evolution

Biography - Charles Darwin: Evolution's Voice DVD ~ Biography

Genius - Charles Darwin DVD ~ Charles Darwin



Magazines/Periodicals:
Was Darwin Wrong? National Geographic Magazine, November 2004

Links to Mr. Darwin

Please, no puns about "missing links."

I promised some links to the Darwin resources I found on the web. Here they are, in no particular order and without and annotation (I just hate it when authors do this!):

http://www.aboutdarwin.com/literature/CD_Books.html

http://www.williamcalvin.com/bookshelf/down_hse.htm

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConProperty.102

http://www.darwincountry.org/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/darwin_charles.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/kent/in_pictures/panoramas/downe/index.shtml

http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/darwin/leghist/index.htm

http://www.fact-index.com/c/ch/charles_darwin.html

http://www.infidels.org/library/historical/charles_darwin/descent_of_man/

http://darwin.thefreelibrary.com/

http://charles-darwin.classic-literature.co.uk/the-life-and-letters-of-charles-darwin-volume-i/ebook-page-47.asp

http://www.visionlearning.com/library/module_viewer.php?mid=110

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/darwin/idea/think.php

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/Departments/Darwin/index.html

http://darwiniana.org/

http://www.rit.edu/~rhrsbi/GalapagosPages/DarwinFinch.html

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/darwin/index.html

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.5907

http://www.literature.org/authors/darwin-charles/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Voyage_of_the_Beagle

http://pages.britishlibrary.net/charles.darwin/

Where is it?

Well, if your going to visit Mr. Darwin I guess you should find out where he lives (lived), right? So I did some surfing around and found a number of great websites which I'll post later. I found a couple of places with great maps and then I began fooling around with Google Earth. Being a geologist at heart, and having a weak spot for technology, I really am blown away by GE! Every time I use it I find something interesting. Anyway, I know where it is and made some really interesting map/air photo composites. In the second composite you can even compare the different parts of the house!

And for anyone who cares -

Downe House:

51º 19’ 53.18” N
0º 03’ 12.49” E
Elevation – 563’

What's this all about?

Well, honestly I'm not sure yet.

Although I read a lot of blogs, I have never tried my hand at writing one. Anyway, it looks like next year in early June I'll be in London on business for about a week and it just recently occurred to me that Darwin's home (Downe House) is only about 16 miles outside of town - that perfect opportunity! I've always been fascinated by Darwin (more on this later) so I decided to make this whole thing into a mini-project with no particular concrete outcome or goal. Something just to have some fun with!

Since I am a long-time dedicated user of Moleskine Notebooks (these things have a cult-like following - just do a Google on "moleskine" - or look at http://www.moleskineus.com), I started a new one specifically for this project - a "technology" that I'm sure Darwin would have been very familiar with.


But now I'm augmenting my notebook with a blog - a "technology" obviously unknown to Darwin, but one I think he would have approved of were it available - Would Darwin have blogged? - My gut instinct screams YES! - but it's a question that may require some careful consideration and thought-time.

Well, let's see where this whole thing takes us - shall we?