Biographical entry Darwin, Charles Robert (1809 - 1882)

Summary

Charles Robert Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection ("Origin of Species" 1859) convinced biologists that evolution had occurred. He visited Australia in 1836 as naturalist on the "Beagle", and subsequently used Australian material in developing his ideas.

Archival resources

Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science

• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1860 - 1881, MS 29; Adolph Basser Library, Australian Academy of Science. Details

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1860, LBWA/187A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1862 - 1878, ML DOC 1123; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Clarke Family Papers - Records, 1789 - 1879, ML MSS 139; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details
• Linnean Society of London - Records, 1792 - 1870, FM 4/2699; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1874, MS 73; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1834, MS 4260; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Charles Robert Darwin - Records, 1873 - 1881; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

Books

• Armstrong, Patrick, Charles Darwin in Western Australia: a Young Scientist's Perception of an Environment, University of Western Australia Press, Nedlands, 1985, 80 pp. Details
• Beer, Gavin De, Darwin and Australia. in The Evolution of Living Organisms. A Symposium to Mark the Centenary of Darwin's 'Origin of Species' and of the Royal Society of Victoria, Melbourne, December 1959., Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1962. Details
• Browne, Janet, Charles Darwin Voyaging: Volume 1 of a Biography, Paperback edn, Jonathan Cape, London, 1995, 640 pp. Details
• Laurent, John and Campbell, Margaret, The Eye of Resaon: Charles Darwin in Australasia, University of Wollongong Press, Wollongong, 1987, 88 pp. Details
• Wheeler, Alwyne and Price, James H., From Linnaeus to Darwin: Commentaries on the History of Biology and Geology. Papers from the Fifth Easter Meeting of the Society for the History of Natural History 28-31 March, 1983, 'Natural History in the Early Nineteenth Century', Society for the History of Natural History, London, 1985. Details

Book Sections

• Butcher, Barry, 'Darwin Down Under: Science, Religion and Evolution in Australia', in Ronald Numbers and John Stenhouse (eds), Disseminating Darwinism: The Role of Place, Race, Religion and Gender, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. Details
• Butcher, Barry W., 'Darwin's Australian Correspondents: Defence and Collaboration in Colonial Science', in Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock (eds), Nature in its Greatest Extent: Western Science in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1988, pp. 139-158. Details
• Butcher, Barry W., 'Darwinism, Social Darwinism and the Australian Aborigines: a Revaluation', in Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock (eds), Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994, pp. 371-394. Details
• Garber, Janet, 'Darwin's Correspondents in the Pacific: Through the Looking Glass to the Antipodes', in Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock (eds), Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994, pp. 169-211. Details
• Newman, William A., 'Darwin and Cirripedology', in Frank Truesdale (ed.), History of Carcinology, A. A. Balkema, Rotterdam, 1993, pp. 349-434. Details
• Stoddart, David R., 'This Coral Episode: Darwin, Dana and the Coral Reefs in the Pacific', in Roy MacLeod and Philip F. Rehbock (eds), Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994, pp. 21-48. Details
• Townley, K. A., 'Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882), naturalist', in Douglas Pike (ed.), Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 1, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 1966, pp. 286-287. Also available at http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010271b.htm. Details

Edited Books

• Burkhardt, Frederick (ed.), Charles Darwin's Letters: a Selection, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996, 275 pp. Details
• Keynes, Richard Darwin (ed.), Charles Darwin's Beagle Diary, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge & New York, 2001, 493 pp. Details
• MacLeod, Roy and Rehbock, Philip (eds), Darwin's Laboratory: Evolutionary Theory and Natural History in the Pacific, University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu, 1994, 540 pp. Details
• Nicholas, F. W. and Nicholas, J. W. (eds), Charles Darwin in Australia, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge/Melbourne, 1989, 189 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Banks, Max, 'Charles Darwin's Visit to Hobart Town', Tasmanian Tramp, vol. 24, 1982, pp. 180-186. Details
• Birch, L. C., 'In the Footsteps of Charles Darwin', Australian Journal of Science, vol. 21, 1958, pp. 33-39. Details
• Butcher, Barry W., 'Adding Stones to the Great Pile? Charles Darwin's Use of Australian Resources, 1837-1882', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 8, no. 1, 1989, pp. 1-14. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9890810001.htm. Details
• Daley, Chas, 'Charles Darwin in Australia', Victorian Historical Magazine, vol. 17, 1938, pp. 64-70. Details
• Di Gregorio, Mario A., 'The Uniqueness of Charles Darwin: His Reading of W.S.Macleay's Horae Entomologicae', Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 11, no. 2, 1996, pp. 103-117. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/paper/HR9961120103.htm. Details
• Dugan, D. G., 'Darwin and Diprotodon: the Wellington Caves fossils and the law of succession', Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, vol. 104, no. 4, 1980, pp. 265-272. Details
• Laurent, John and Campbell, Margaret, 'Charles Darwin in Australia', This Australia, vol. 5, no. 3, 1986, pp. 44-46. Details
• Lucas, A. H. S., 'Charles Darwin on Australia', Victorian Naturalist, vol. 2, 1885, pp. 20-24. Details
• Shine, Rick and Hutchinson, Mark, 'Charles Darwin in Tasmania', Australian Natural History, vol. 23, no. 10, 1991, pp. 794-801. Details
• Stanbury, P. J., 'Darwin's Journey in New South Wales', Australian Natural History, vol. 16, no. 11, 1970, pp. 371-374. Details
• Stoddard, D. R., 'Darwin, Jukes and Theory of Reef Development in Australia in the Nineteenth Century', Abstracts of the Geological Society of America, vol. 17, 1985, p. No 73343. Details
• Whitley, G. P., 'Charles Darwin in Australia', The Australian Museum Magazine, vol. 13, 1959, pp. 120-121. Details

Reviews

• Love, Rosaleen, review of Oldroyd, D. R., Darwinian Impacts: an introduction to the Darwinian Revolution, Historical Records of Australian Science, vol. 5, no. 2, 1981, pp. 124-126. Also available at http://www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=HR9810520123.pdf. Details

Online Resources

• 'Darwin, Charles Robert - Ms 29', in Listing of Adolph Basser Library holdings, Australian Academy of Science, 1994, http://www.science.org.au/basser/manuscript-collection/ms029.html. Details
• National Library of Australia, 'Darwin, Charles', Trove, National Library of Australia and the Australian National Maritime Museum Darling Harbour, 2009, http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1214818. Details

See also

• Science and the making of Victoria, with Royal Society of Victoria, 2001, http://www.austehc.unimelb.edu.au/smv/scripts/smv-dynindex.php3?EID=P000348. Details