Speaking of Darwin

In an earlier blog I highlighted the key figures who aided Darwin on his journey from a keen amateur to a respected natural historian able to ‘take a place amongst the leading scientific men’*. Charlie’s Angels reflected on the old adage ‘it’s not what you know but who you know’ and it’s clear that Darwin’s…

I was recently interviewed for the History Hack Podcast and the subject of Darwin on the Beagle came up. As my book explains, it was by no means a foregone conclusion that Darwin would be given the post of Naturalist indeed he wasn’t even on the shortlist. When you add to that the fact that…

In 2004 I was appointed Darwin Officer at Shrewsbury & Atcham Borough Council with a brief to prepare for the impending dual celebrations in 2009 of Darwin’s bicentennary and the 150th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. In 2006 I received an invitation from Professor Bob Stephens, founder of the internationally recognised…

The programme for the inaugural Shrewsbury Darwin Festival was as follows: Saturday 8th – 10th February Exhibition: Darwin on Tierra Del Fuego staged by Andrew Allott, Head of Biology, Shrewsbury School – at Shrewsbury Library Sunday 9th February The Freinds of Shrewsbury Museum present The Annual Charles Darwin Memorial Lecture “Charles Darwin’s Legacy and Cancer”…

Charles Darwin in Shrewsbury – The Making of a Marvellous Mind Amberley Publishing £15.99 Publication date 18th January 2023 Charles Darwin was one of the most influentialscientific thinkers of his age and his ideascontinue to inform our understanding of thenatural world. Darwin was born and went toschool in Shrewsbury and the town was thehome of…

“Give me a child to the age of seven and I will give you the man” Darwin the elder statesman of science, is the image we are most familiar with. But the roots of his genius can be found closer to his origins. His experiences on the voyage of The Beagle provided Charles Darwin with…