The Darwin Enterprise: From Scientific Icon to Global Product

Eiseley Loren , “Review: The triumph of the Darwinian method by Michael T. Ghiselin”, American anthropologist, lxxii (1970), 957–9; Ghiselin Michael T. , The triumph of the Darwinian method (Los Angeles, 1969).

Noll Mark A. , “Foreword to the US edition”, in Moore James R. , The Darwin legend: Are the reports of his deathbed conversion true? (Grand Rapids, 1994), p. ix. For further on the early history of the Darwin Industry and the Darwin correspondence project see for example Ruse Michael , “The Darwin Industry: A critical evaluation”, History of science, xii (1974), 1974–58; Burkhardt Frederick , “Editing Darwin”, Proceeding of the American Philosophical Society, cxxx (1986), 1986–73; Montgomery William , “Editing the Darwin correspondence: A quantitative perspective”, The British journal for the history of science, xx (1987), 1987–27; Moore James R. , “Essay review: Darwin's genesis and revelations”, Isis, lxxvi (1985), 1985–80; Burkhardt Frederick (eds), The correspondence of Charles Darwin (17 vols, Cambridge, 1985–2009); Burkhardt Frederick (eds), A calendar of the correspondence of Charles Darwin, 1821–1882 (Cambridge, 1994), “Introduction”, 1–9.

For overviews of the history of science community's industrious Darwin production see Wassersug Richard J. Rose Michael R. , “A reader's guide and retrospective to the 1982 Darwin centennial”, The quarterly review of biology, lix (1984), 417–37; Kohn David (ed.), The Darwinian heritage (Princeton, 1986); Lenoir Timothy , “Essay review: The Darwin Industry”, Journal of the history of biology, xx (1987), 1987–30; Ruse Michael , “The Darwin Industry: A guide”, Victorian studies, xxxix (1996), 1996–35; Ruse Michael , “Darwinian struggles: But is there progress?”, History of science, xlvii (2009), 2009–30; Bowler Peter J. , “The eclipse of pseudo-Darwinism? Reflections on some recent developments in Darwin studies”, History of science, xlvii (2009), 2009–43. James R. Moore provides a personal history of the Darwin industry from within in “Metabiographical reflections on Darwin” in Shortland Michael Yeo Richard (eds), Telling lives in science: Essays on scientific biography (Cambridge, 1996), 267–81.

Desmond Adrian Moore James R. , Darwin: The life of a tormented evolutionist (London, 1991); Bowler Peter , Charles Darwin: The man and his influence (Cambridge, 1996); Browne Janet , Charles Darwin, voyaging (London, 1995) and Charles Darwin: The power of place (London, 2003).

Ruse Michael , “Will the real Charles Darwin please stand up?”, The quarterly review of biology, lxviii (1993), 225–31.

Lightman Bernard , “The many lives of Charles Darwin”, lecture delivered at the Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge, 20 April 2009. see also Browne Janet , “Making Darwin: Biography and the changing representation of Charles Darwin”, The journal of interdisciplinary history, xl (2010), 347–73; Browne Janet , “Darwin as a celebrity”, Science in context, xvi (2003), 2003–94; Browne Janet , “Commemorating Darwin”, The British journal for the history of science, xxxviii (2005), 2005–74; Browne Janet , “Looking at Darwin: Portraits and the making of an icon”, Isis, c (2009), 2009–70; Richmond Marsha L. , “The 1909 Darwin celebration: Reexamining evolution in the light of Mendel, mutation, and meiosis”, Isis, xcvii (2006), 2006–84; Vassiliki Betty Smocovitis , “The 1959 Darwin centennial celebration in America”, Osiris, n.s., xiv (1999), 1999–323; Moore James R. , “Charles Darwin lies in Westminster Abbey”, in Berry R. J. (ed.), Charles Darwin: A commemoration (London 1982), 97–113; Kjærgaard Peter C. , “Forging and evolutionary icon: Danes and the Darwin Memorial”, in Glick Thomas F. Shaffer Elinor Engels Eve—Marie (eds), Darwinism in Europe: Science, culture, religion (Cambridge, 2010).

One example from two of the most prolific writers in the scholarly Darwin Industry is the very different narratives and explanations from Darwin's secret cause to Darwin's sacred cause we find in Desmond and Moore's Darwin (ref. 4) and their most recent book Darwin's sacred cause: Race, slavery and the quest for human origins (London, 2009).

Oldroyd David , “Darwin's geology: The end of the Darwin Industry?”, Metascience, xvi (2007), 25–31. Sandra Herbert, Charles Darwin, geologist (Ithaca, 2005).

See for example Desmond Moore , Darwin's sacred cause (ref. 7); Hodge Jonathan Radick Gregory (eds), The Cambridge companion to Darwin, 2nd edn (Cambridge 2009); Ruse Michael Richards Robert J. (eds), The Cambridge companion to the Origin of Species (Cambridge 2008); Hodge Jonathan , Before and after Darwin: Origins, species, cosmogonies, and ontologies (Aldershot, 2008); Hodge Jonathan , Darwin studies: A theorist and his theories in their contexts (Aldershot, 2009); Lightman Bernard , Evolutionary naturalism in Victorian Britain: The ‘Darwinians’ and their critics (Aldershot, 2009); Secord James A. , Charles Darwin: Evolutionary writings including the autobiographies (Oxford, 2008); van Wyhe John (ed.), Charles Darwin's shorter publications, 1829–1883 (Cambridge, 2009); Chancellor Gordon van Wyhe John (eds), Charles Darwin's notebooks from the voyage of the ‘Beagle’ (Cambridge, 2009); and the fine series of small correspondence volumes, Origins: Selected letters of Charles Darwin 1822–1859, Evolution: Selected letters of Charles Darwin 1860–1870, and Charles Darwin: The Beagle letters, ed. by Burkhardt Frederick Evens Samantha Pearn Alison (Cambridge, 2008). The Darwin anniversary year has been marked in several history of science journals. See, for example, Paul Farber, “Editorial: Darwin Year”, Journal of the history of biology, xlii (2009), 2009–2; Iwan Morus's “Editorial” in History of science, xlvii (2009), 2009–71; Secord James A. , “Focus: Darwin as a cultural icon. Introduction”, Isis, c (2009), 2009–41. The most substantial post-2009 report on the Darwin anniversary year so far is Steven Shapin, “The Darwin show”, London review of books, xxxii (2010), 2010–9.

Rybczynski Natalia Dawson Mary R. Tedford Richard H. , “A semi-aquatic Arctic mammalian carnivore from the miocene epoch and origin of pinnipedia”, Nature, cdlviii (2009), 1021–4, p. 1022. Darwin Charles , The origin of species by means of natural selection or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life, 6th edn (London, 1872), 180. Puijila darwini's website is hosted by the Canadian Museum of Nature: http://nature.ca/puijila (accessed 24 November 2009).

Franzen Jens L. , “Complete primate skeleton from the middle eocene of Messel in Germany: Morphology and paleobiology”, PLoS ONE, iv (2009), e5723, 1–27 (http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0005723; accessed 24 November 2009), 5; Tudge Colin , The link: Uncovering ourearliestancestor (London, 2009). Darwinius masillae's interactive website is found at http://revealingthelink.com (accessed 24 November 2009). The campaign was criticized by a number of people both within the media and the sciences. Among the negative reactions in the scientific community was a letter to Nature signed by no fewer than eleven prominent scientists in the field; see Simons Elwyn L. , “Outrage at high price paid for a fossil”, Nature, cdlx (2009), 456. The study challenging Darwinius marsillae's phylogenetic place in the human lineage was also published in Nature; see Seiffert Erik R. , “Convergent evolution of anthropoid-like adaptations in eocene adapiform primates”, Nature, cdlxi (2009), 2009–21.

Kohlmann Bert Solis Angel , “New species of ateuchus and canthidium (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae Scarabaeinae) from Costa Rica”, Zootaxa, mmccxix (2009), 31–7.

Lü Junchang , “Evidence for modular evolution in a long-tailed pterosaur with a pterodactyloid skull”, ProcRSocB, 2009, published online before print 14 October 2009, doi:10.1098/rspb.2009.1603(http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2009/10/12/rspb.2009.1603.full.pdf; accessed 24 November2009), 1, 2.

For Darwin's original discussion in the Origin of various transitional stages including those in the fossil record see On the origin of species, 1st edn (London, 1859), chaps. 6 and 14. In “The undead Darwin: Iconic narrative, scientific controversy and the history of science”, History of science, xlvii (2009), 445–57, Amanda Rees analyses primatologists' use of Darwin in discussions about infanticide in non-human primates. The pragmatic and purpose oriented use of Darwin among palaeontologists in 2009 to generate publicity and make authority claims is very similar to what Rees has found among primatologists.

These examples demonstrate that the idea of “missing links” is still very much part of the scientific discourse, certainly for the discourse of science with active participation of prominent scientists in contemporary palaeontology. The idea of “missing links” has a long history preceding Darwin's publication of the Origin. This is a huge topic and cannot be dealt with adequately here. For a brief introduction to the use of “missing links” in cartoons, as an example of how the concept appears in a popular context, see Constance Areson Clark's recent article, “‘You are here’: Missing links, chains of being, and the language of cartoons”, Isis, c (2009), 571–89.

Browne Janet , “Darwin as a celebrity” (ref. 6). see also Browne Janet , “Darwin in caricature: A study in the popularisation and dissemination of evolution”, Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, cxlv (2001), 496–509.

In his now classic study of the Galápagos Finch legend Frank Sulloway has led the way in the Darwin Industry to trace and dispel the biggest and most harmful myths. See his “Darwin and his finches: The evolution of a legend”, Journal of the history of biology, xv (1982), 1–53, and “The Beagle collections of Darwin's finches”, Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) zoology series, xliii (1982), 1982–94. Colp Ralph Jr , has effectively demolished the myth that Karl Marx wanted to dedicate Das Kapital to Darwin in “The myth of the Darwin—Marx letter”, History of political economy, xiv (1982), 1982–82; James Moore has taken on another of the most persisting Darwin myths, his alleged deathbed conversion to Christianity in The Darwin legend: Are the reports of his deathbed conversion true? (ref. 2). John van Wyhe has challenged the prevailing ideas of ‘Darwin's delay’ in “Mind the gap: Did Darwin avoid publishing his theory for many years?”, Notes and records of the Royal Society, lxi (2007), 2007–205. It remains one of the most important tasks of Darwin and evolution scholars to dispel the many and widespread myths and misconceptions that have thrived and mushroomed during the anniversary year. We find them everywhere in the public sphere, but, in fact, the most damaging are the ones growing out of the scholarly community perpetuating now orthodox and authoritative narratives rarely challenged or checked, in comfortable consensus on standard details of the Darwin story. Also here there is indeed a need for a critical look at the products of the Darwin Industry. Younger scholars should be encouraged to take on the challenge and be commended for so doing.

The Ministry for Science and Technology in Brazil, for example, organized a Darwin trail, Caminhos de Darwin, Rio de Janeiro 1832–2008, combining tourism, outreach and science projects (see www.casadaciencia.ufrj.br/caminhosdedarwin; accessed 24 November 2009).

See for example the study of public knowledge and understanding of Darwin and evolution in Argentina, China, Egypt, Great Britain, India, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, Spain and USA commissioned by the British Council and publicized in June 2009 (IPSOS MORI Poll J09–007003).

For the reception of Darwin around the world see for example Glick Thomas F. (ed.), The comparative reception of Darwinism (Austin, 1972); Engels Eve-Marie (ed.), Die Rezeption von Evolutionstheorien im 19. Jahrhundert (Frankfurt, 1995); Brömer Rainer Hossfeld Uwe Rupke Nicolaas A. (eds), Evolutionsbiologie von Darwin bis heute (Berlin, 2000); Glick Thomas F. Puig-Samper Miguel Angel Ruiz R. (eds), The reception of Darwinism in the Iberian world: Spain, Spanish America and Brazil (New York, 2001); Engels Eve-Marie Glick Thomas , The reception of Charles Darwin in Europe (2 vols, London, 2008).

There are numerous accounts of the famous meeting. see for example James Frank A. J. L. , “An ‘open clash between science and the Church’? Wilberforce, Huxley and Hooker on Darwin at the British Association, Oxford, 1860”, in Knight David M. Eddy Matthew D. (eds), Science and beliefs: From natural philosophy to natural science, 1700–1900 (Aldershot, 2005), 171–94, and Jensen J. Vernon , “Return to the Wilberforce—Huxley debate”, The British journal for the history of science, xxi (1988), 1988–79.

See for example Simons Eric , Darwin slept here: Discovery, adventure and swimming iguanas in Charles Darwin's South America (Woodstock, 2009); Dixon Mike Radick Gregory , Darwin in Ilkley (Bromscombe Port, 2009); van Wyhe John , Darwin in Cambridge (Cambridge 2009); and Nicholas F. W. Nicholas J. M. , Charles Darwin in Australia (Cambridge, 2008).

See www.darwin200.org (accessed 24 November 2009).

www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/news/2000/093.htm (accessed 24 November 2009).

For an evolutionary account of hummingbirds and island flora and fauna see Altshuler Douglas L. Clark Christopher James , “Darwin's hummingbirds”, Science, ccc (2003), 588–9.

http://darwin.britishcouncil.org (accessed 24 November 2009).

Donald Diana Munro Jane (eds), Endless forms: Charles Darwin, natural science and the visual arts (New Haven, 2009); Kort Pamela Hollein Mox (eds), Darwin: Art and the search for origins (Cologne, 2009). For the new trend in studying Darwin and visual culture see also Smith Jonathan , Charles Darwin and Victorian visual cultura (Cambridge, 2009); Voss Julia , Darwin's Bilder: Ansichten der Evolutionstheorie 1827 bis 1874 (Frankfurt, 2007); Larson Barbara Brauer Fae (eds), The art of evolution: Darwin, Darwinisms, and visual cultura (Lebanon, NH, 2009).

See for example Ballou Emily , The Darwin poems (Crawley, 2009); Padel Ruth , Darwin: A life in poems (London, 2009); Meyer Carolyn , The true adventures of Charley Darwin (Boston, 2009); Baxter Craig , Re:design (http://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/content/view/89/74, accessed 24 November 2009); Rohde Jokum , Darwins Testamente (The Royal Danish Theatre, 2008); Hotel Pro Forma, Tomorrow, in a year (The Royal Danish Theatre, 2009); The Low Anthem, Oh my God, Charlie Darwin (Bella Union, 2009); various artists, The Darwin song Project (Shrewsbury Song Festival, 2009); www.cammusic.co.uk (accessed 24 November 2009). For a study of the use of Darwin in musical traditions see Smocovitis Vassiliki Betty , “Singing his praises: Darwin and his theory in song and musical production”, Isis, c (2009), 2009–614.

Creation: Darwin the true story, directed by Jon Amiel (2009); MMaster and commander: The far side of the world, directed by Peter Weir (2003). See also Keynes Randall , Annie's box: Charles Darwin, his daughter and human evolution (London, 2002). The book was reprinted in 2009 under the title Creation: The true story of Charles DarwinM, to accompany the film. For a critical reading of Creation see Iwan Morus's “Editorial” (ref. 9).

See http://darwinproject.ac.uk and http://darwin-online.org.uk.

See van Wyhe John “Darwin online and the evolution of the Darwin industry”, History of science, xlvii (2009), 459–73.

See Bowler Peter Browne Janet Herbert Sandra , “The perils of publicity”, Newsletter of the History of Science Society, no. 38 (2009), 24. The voyage that shook the world was directed by Steve Murray for Creation Ministries International (www.creation.com) and released in 2009. Expelled: No intelligence allowed was directed by Nathan Frankowski and released 18 April 2008.

Kjærgaard Peter C. , “Western front”, New humanist, cxxiii (2008), 39–42.

See for example Miller Jon D. Scott Eugenie Okamoto Shinji , “Public acceptance of evolution”, Science, cccxiii (2006), 765–6; and “Supporting online material for public acceptance of evolution”, www.sciencemag.org (published 18 August 2006), 1–13.

Personal communication from the editor in charge at EkstraBladet.

See for example “The atlas of creation razed Darwinism in Europe”, http://us1.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/8585/THE_ATLAS_OF_CREATION_RAZED_DARWINISM_IN_EUROPE (accessed 24 November 2009).

Brooke John H. Cantor Geoffrey , Reconstructing nature: The engagement of science and religion (Edinburgh 1998); Secord James A. , Victorian sensation: The extraordinary publication, reception and secret authorship of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation (Chicago 2001); and Secord James A. , “Knowledge in transit”, Isis, xcv (2004), 2004–72.

Edgerton David , The shock of the old: Technology and global history since 1900 (London, 2006).