Erasmus Robert Darwin
(12 December 173118 April 1802) was an English physician. One of the key thinkers of the
Midlands Enlightenment
The Midlands Enlightenment, also known as the West Midlands Enlightenment or the Birmingham Enlightenment, was a scientific, economic, political, cultural and legal manifestation of the Age of Enlightenment that developed in Birmingham and the wide ...
, he was also a
natural philosopher,
physiologist,
slave-trade abolitionist,
inventor, and poet.
His poems included much
natural history, including a statement of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
and the relatedness of all
forms of life.
He was a member of the
Darwin–Wedgwood family, which includes his grandsons
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
and
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...
. Darwin was a founding member of the
Lunar Society of Birmingham, a discussion group of pioneering industrialists and natural philosophers.
He turned down an invitation from
George III to become
Physician to the King.
Early life and education
Darwin was born in 1731 at
Elston Hall, Nottinghamshire, near
Newark-on-Trent, England, the youngest of seven children of
Robert Darwin of Elston
Robert Darwin of Elston (12 August 1682 — 20 November 1754) was an English lawyer, scientist and physician. He was the father of English physician Erasmus Darwin, and a great-grandfather of the famous English naturalist and geologist Charles ...
(1682–1754), a lawyer and physician, and his wife Elizabeth Hill (1702–97). The name
Erasmus
Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' w ...
had been used by a number of his family and derives from his ancestor
Erasmus Earle, Common Sergent of England under
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three K ...
. His siblings were:
*
Robert Waring Darwin of Elston (17 October 1724 – 4 November 1816)
* Elizabeth Darwin (15 September 1725 – 8 April 1800)
* William Alvey Darwin (3 October 1726 – 7 October 1783)
* Anne Darwin (12 November 1727 – 3 August 1813)
* Susannah Darwin (10 April 1729 – 29 September 1789)
* Rev. John Darwin,
rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of Elston (28 September 1730 – 24 May 1805)
He was educated at Chesterfield Grammar School, then later at
St John's College,
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...
. He obtained his medical education at the
University of Edinburgh Medical School; whether he ever obtained the formal degree of MD is not known.
Darwin settled in 1756 as a physician at Nottingham, but met with little success and so moved the following year to
Lichfield to try to establish a practice there. A few weeks after his arrival, using a novel course of treatment, he restored the health of a young fisherman whose death seemed inevitable. This ensured his success in the new locale. Darwin was a highly successful physician for more than fifty years in the
Midlands.
George III invited him to be
Royal Physician, but Darwin declined.
In Lichfield, Darwin wrote "didactic poetry, developed his system of evolution, and invented amongst other things, a carriage steering mechanism, a manuscript copier and a speaking machine.
Personal life
Darwin married twice and had 14 children, including two illegitimate daughters by an employee, and, possibly, at least one further illegitimate daughter.
In 1757 he married Mary (Polly) Howard (1740–1770), the daughter of Charles Howard, a Lichfield solicitor.
They had four sons and one daughter, two of whom (a son and a daughter) died in infancy:
*
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
(1758–1778), uncle of the naturalist
* Erasmus Darwin Jr (1759–1799)
* Elizabeth Darwin (1763, survived 4 months)
*
Robert Waring Darwin (1766–1848), father of the naturalist Charles Darwin
* William Alvey Darwin (1767, survived 19 days)
The first Mrs. Darwin died in 1770. A
governess, Mary Parker, was hired to look after Robert. By late 1771, employer and employee had become intimately involved and together they had two illegitimate daughters:
* Susanna Parker (1772–1856)
* Mary Parker Jr (1774–1859)
Susanna and Mary Jr later established a
boarding school for girls. In 1782, Mary Sr (the governess) married Joseph Day (1745–1811), a Birmingham merchant, and moved away.
Darwin may have fathered another child, this time with a married woman. A Lucy Swift gave birth in 1771 to a baby, also named Lucy, who was christened a daughter of her mother and William Swift, but there is reason to believe the father was really Darwin. Lucy Jr. married John Hardcastle in
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...
in 1792 and their daughter, Mary, married
Francis Boott
Francis Boott (26 September 1792 – 25 December 1863) was an American physician and botanist who was resident in Great Britain from 1820.
Biography
Boott was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the brother of Kirk Boott, one of the founders of L ...
, the physician.
In 1775. Darwin met Elizabeth Pole, daughter of
Charles Colyear, 2nd Earl of Portmore, and wife of Colonel Edward Pole (1718–1780); but as she was married, Darwin could only make his feelings known for her through poetry. When Edward Pole died, Darwin married Elizabeth and moved to her home,
Radbourne Hall
Radbourne Hall is an 18th-century Georgian country house, the seat of the Chandos-Pole family, at Radbourne, Derbyshire. It is a Grade I listed building.
History
The Manor of Radbourne has been held by the Chandos family from the time of the ...
, four miles (6 km) west of Derby. The hall and village are these days known as
Radbourne Radbourne may refer to:
* Radbourne, Derbyshire, a village and civil parish in England
** Radbourne Hall, a country house
* Radbourne, Warwickshire, a civil parish near Ladbroke, Warwickshire, England
** Upper and Lower Radbourne, a former civil ...
. In 1782, they moved to Full Street, Derby. They had four sons, one of whom died in infancy, and three daughters:
* Edward Darwin (1782–1829)
* Frances Ann Violetta Darwin (1783–1874), married
Samuel Tertius Galton, was the mother of
Francis Galton
Sir Francis Galton, FRS FRAI (; 16 February 1822 – 17 January 1911), was an English Victorian era polymath: a statistician, sociologist, psychologist, anthropologist, tropical explorer, geographer, inventor, meteorologist, proto- ...
* Emma Georgina Elizabeth Darwin (1784–1818)
* Sir
Francis Sacheverel Darwin (1786–1859)
* Revd. John Darwin (1787–1818), Christian;
Rector
Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to:
Style or title
*Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations
*Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...
of
All Saints' Church, Elston
* Henry Darwin (1789–1790), died in infancy.
* Harriet Darwin (1790–1825), married Admiral
Thomas James Maling
Darwin's personal appearance is described in unflattering detail in his Biographical Memoirs, printed by the ''Monthly Magazine'' in 1802. Darwin, the description reads, "was of middle stature, in person gross and corpulent; his features were coarse, and his countenance heavy; if not wholly void of animation, it certainly was by no means expressive. The print of him, from a painting of Mr. Wright, is a good likeness. In his gait and dress he was rather clumsy and slovenly, and frequently walked with his tongue hanging out of his mouth."
Freemasonry
Darwin had been a
Freemason throughout his life, in the Time Immemorial Lodge of Cannongate Kilwinning, No. 2, of Scotland. Later on, Sir Francis Darwin, one of his sons, was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge, No. 253, at Derby, in 1807 or 1808. His son
Reginald was made a Mason in Tyrian Lodge in 1804.
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
's name does not appear on the rolls of the Lodge but it is very possible that he, like Francis, was a Mason, as he held many Masonic beliefs such as
Deism throughout his life.
Death
Darwin died suddenly on 18 April 1802, weeks after having moved to
Breadsall Priory, just north of
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gain ...
. The Monthly Magazine of 1802, in its Biographical Memoirs of the Late Dr. Darwin, reports that "during the last few years, Dr. Darwin was much subject to inflammation in his breast and lungs; he had a very serious attack of this disease in the course of the last Spring, from which, after repeated bleedings, by himself and a surgeon, he with great difficulty recovered."
Darwin's death, the Biographical Memoirs continues, "is variously accounted for: it is supposed to have been caused by the cold fit of an inflammatory fever. Dr. Fox, of Derby, considers the disease which occasioned it to have been
angina pectoris
Angina, also known as angina pectoris, is chest pain or pressure, usually caused by insufficient blood flow to the heart muscle (myocardium). It is most commonly a symptom of coronary artery disease.
Angina is typically the result of obstr ...
; but Dr. Garlicke, of the same place, thinks this opinion not sufficiently well founded. Whatever was the disease, it is not improbable, surely, that the fatal event was hastened by the violent fit of passion with which he was seized in the morning."
His body is buried in
All Saints' Church, Breadsall.
Erasmus Darwin is commemorated on one of the
Moonstones, a series of monuments in
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
.
Writings
Botanical works and the Lichfield Botanical Society
Darwin formed 'A Botanical Society, at Lichfield' almost always incorrectly named as the Lichfield Botanical Society (despite the name, composed of only three men, Erasmus Darwin,
Sir Brooke Boothby and Mr John Jackson,
proctor of
Lichfield Cathedral
Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medieva ...
[fl. 1740s–1790s. Also Bookseller and Printer in Lichfield. When Darwin left Lichfield in 1781, Jackson took over his botanical garden. His daughter, Miss Mary A(nn) Jackson of Lichfield (fl. 1830s–1840s), was a botanical illustrator, and author of ''Botanical Terms illustrated'' (1842) and ''Pictorial Flora'' (1840)]) to translate the works of the Swedish botanist
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, ...
from Latin into English. This took seven years. The result was two publications: ''A System of Vegetables'' between 1783 and 1785, and ''The Families of Plants'' in 1787. In these volumes, Darwin coined many of the English names of plants that we use today.
Darwin then wrote ''
The Loves of the Plants
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
,'' a long poem, which was a popular rendering of Linnaeus' works. Darwin also wrote ''
Economy of Vegetation
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
'', and together the two were published as ''
The Botanic Garden
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
''. Among other writers he influenced were
Anna Seward and
Maria Jacson
Maria Elizabetha Jacson (1755 – 10 October 1829) was an eighteenth-century English writer, as was her sister, Frances Jacson (1754–1842), known for her books on botany at a time when there were significant obstacles to women's authorship. I ...
.
Zoonomia
Darwin's most important scientific work, ''
Zoonomia'' (1794–1796), contains a system of
pathology
Pathology is the study of the causes and effects of disease or injury. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in ...
and a chapter on '
Generation'. In the latter, he anticipated some of the views of
Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
Jean-Baptiste Pierre Antoine de Monet, chevalier de Lamarck (1 August 1744 – 18 December 1829), often known simply as Lamarck (; ), was a French naturalist, biologist, academic, and soldier. He was an early proponent of the idea that biolog ...
, which foreshadowed the modern theory of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
. Erasmus Darwin's works were read and commented on by his grandson
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
the naturalist. Erasmus Darwin based his theories on
David Hartley's psychological theory of
associationism. The essence of his views is contained in the following passage, which he follows up with the conclusion that one and the same kind of living filament is and has been the cause of all organic life:
Would it be too bold to imagine, that in the great length of time, since the earth began to exist, perhaps millions of ages before the commencement of the history of mankind, would it be too bold to imagine, that all warm-blooded animals have arisen from one living filament, which THE GREAT FIRST CAUSE endued with animality, with the power of acquiring new parts, attended with new propensities, directed by irritations, sensations, volitions, and associations; and thus possessing the faculty of continuing to improve by its own inherent activity, and of delivering down those improvements by generation to its posterity, world without end!
Erasmus Darwin also anticipated survival of the fittest in ''Zoönomia'' mainly when writing about the "three great objects of desire" for every organism: "lust, hunger, and security."
A similar "survival of the fittest" view in ''Zoönomia'' is Erasmus' view on how a species "should" propagate itself. Erasmus' idea that "the strongest and most active animal should propagate the species, which should thence become improved".
Today, this is called the theory of
survival of the fittest. His grandson Charles Darwin, much less libidinous and who led more of an invalid life, and who is not known to have illegitimately fathered children, or fathered children he did not plan, acknowledge and raise, posited the different and fuller theory of natural selection. Charles' theory was that natural selection is the inheritance of changed genetic characteristics that are better adaptations to the environment; these are not necessarily based in "strength" and "activity", which themselves ironically can lead to the overpopulation that results in natural selection yielding nonsurvivors of genetic traits.
Erasmus Darwin was familiar with the earlier proto-evolutionary thinking of
James Burnett, Lord Monboddo, and cited him in his 1803 work ''Temple of Nature.''
Poem on evolution
Erasmus Darwin offered the first glimpse of his theory of evolution, obliquely, in a question at the end of a long footnote to his popular poem ''The Loves of the Plants'' (1789), which was republished throughout the 1790s in several editions as ''
The Botanic Garden
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
''. His poetic concept was to anthropomorphise the
stamen (male) and
pistil (female) sexual organs, as bride and groom. In this stanza on the flower Curcuma (also Flax and Turmeric) the "youths" are infertile, and he devotes the footnote to other examples of neutered organs in flowers, insect castes, and finally associates this more broadly with many popular and well-known cases of vestigial organs (male nipples, the third and fourth wings of flies, etc.)
Woo'd with long care, CURCUMA cold and shy
Meets her fond husband with averted eye:
''Four'' beardless youths the obdurate beauty move
With soft attentions of Platonic love.
Darwin's final long poem, ''The Temple of Nature'' was published posthumously in 1803. The poem was originally titled ''The Origin of Society''. It is considered his best poetic work. It centres on his own conception of
evolution
Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...
. The poem traces the progression of life from micro-organisms to civilised society. The poem contains a passage that describes the
struggle for existence.
His poetry was admired by
Wordsworth, while
Coleridge was intensely critical, writing, "I absolutely nauseate Darwin's poem".
It often made reference to his interests in science; for example botany and
steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be ...
s.
Education of women
The last two leaves of Darwin's ''A plan for the conduct of female education in boarding schools'' (1797) contain a book list, an apology for the work, and an advert for "Miss Parkers School".
The school advertised on the last page is the one he set up in
Ashbourne, Derbyshire, for his two illegitimate children, Susanna and Mary.
Darwin regretted that a good education had not been generally available to women in Britain in his time, and drew on the ideas of
Locke
Locke may refer to:
People
*John Locke, English philosopher
*Locke (given name)
*Locke (surname), information about the surname and list of people
Places in the United States
*Locke, California, a town in Sacramento County
*Locke, Indiana
*Locke, ...
,
Rousseau, and
Genlis in organising his thoughts. Addressing the education of middle-class girls, Darwin argued that amorous romance novels were inappropriate and that they should seek simplicity in dress. He contends that young women should be educated in schools, rather than privately at home, and learn appropriate subjects. These subjects include physiognomy, physical exercise, botany, chemistry, mineralogy, and
experimental philosophy
Experimental philosophy is an emerging field of philosophical inquiry Edmonds, David and Warburton, NigelPhilosophy’s great experiment, ''Prospect'', March 1, 2009 that makes use of empirical data—often gathered through surveys which probe ...
. They should familiarise themselves with arts and manufactures through visits to sites like
Coalbrookdale, and Wedgwood's potteries; they should learn how to handle money, and study modern languages. Darwin's educational philosophy took the view that men and women should have different capabilities, skills, interests, and spheres of action, where the woman's education was designed to support and serve male accomplishment and financial reward, and to relieve him of daily responsibility for children and the chores of life. In the context of the times, this program may be read as a modernising influence in the sense that the woman was at least to learn about the "man's world", although not be allowed to participate in it. The text was written seven years after
A Vindication of the Rights of Woman by
Mary Wollstonecraft, which has the central argument that women should be educated in a rational manner to give them the opportunity to contribute to society.
Some women of Darwin's era were receiving more substantial education and participating in the broader world. An example is
Susanna Wright
Susanna Wright (August 4, 1697 – December 1, 1784) was an 18th-century colonial English American poet, pundit, botanist, business owner, and legal scholar who was influential in the political economy of Pennsylvania as one of the Thirteen Colo ...
, who was raised in Lancashire and became an American colonist associated with the Midlands Enlightenment. It is not known whether Darwin and Wright knew each other, although they definitely knew many people in common. Other women who received substantial education and who participated in the broader world (albeit sometimes anonymously) whom Darwin definitely knew were
Maria Jacson
Maria Elizabetha Jacson (1755 – 10 October 1829) was an eighteenth-century English writer, as was her sister, Frances Jacson (1754–1842), known for her books on botany at a time when there were significant obstacles to women's authorship. I ...
and
Anna Seward.
Lunar Society
These dates indicate the year in which Darwin became friends with these people, who, in turn, became members of the
Lunar Society. The Lunar Society existed from 1765 to 1813.
Before 1765:
*
Matthew Boulton, originally a buckle maker in Birmingham
*
John Whitehurst of Derby, maker of clocks and scientific instruments, pioneer of geology
After 1765:
*
Josiah Wedgwood, potter 1765
* Dr.
William Small, 1765, man of science, formerly Professor of Natural Philosophy at the
College of William and Mary, where
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was previously the nati ...
was an appreciative pupil
*
Richard Lovell Edgeworth, 1766, inventor
*
James Watt, 1767, improver of steam engine
*
James Keir, 1767, pioneer of the chemical industry
*
Thomas Day, 1768, eccentric and author
* Dr.
William Withering, 1775, the death of Dr. Small left an opening for a physician in the group.
*
Joseph Priestley
Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted e ...
, 1780, experimental chemist and discoverer of many substances.
*
Samuel Galton, 1782, a Quaker gunmaker with a taste for science, took Darwin's place after Darwin moved to Derby.
Darwin also established a lifelong friendship with
Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin ( April 17, 1790) was an American polymath who was active as a writer, scientist, inventor
An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a m ...
, who shared Darwin's support for the American and French revolutions. The Lunar Society was instrumental as an intellectual driving force behind England's
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was the transition to new manufacturing processes in Great Britain, continental Europe, and the United States, that occurred during the period from around 1760 to about 1820–1840. This transition included going f ...
.
The members of the Lunar Society, and especially Darwin,
opposed the slave trade. He attacked it in ''The Botanic Garden'' (1789–1791), and in ''The Loves of Plants'' (1789), ''The Economy of Vegetation'' (1791), and the ''Phytologia'' (1800).
Other activities
In 1761, Darwin was elected a fellow of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
.
In addition to the Lunar Society, Erasmus Darwin belonged to the influential
Derby Philosophical Society, as did his brother-in-law Samuel Fox (see family tree below). He experimented with the use of air and gases to alleviate infections and cancers in patients. A Pneumatic Institution was established at
Clifton in 1799 for clinically testing these ideas. He conducted research into the formation of clouds, on which he published in 1788. He also inspired Robert Weldon's
Somerset Coal Canal caisson lock.
In 1792, Darwin was elected as a member to the
American Philosophical Society
The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded in 1743 in Philadelphia, is a scholarly organization that promotes knowledge in the sciences and humanities through research, professional meetings, publications, library resources, and communi ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
.
Percy Bysshe Shelley specifically mentions Darwin in the first sentence of the 1818 Preface to ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...
'' to support his contention that the creation of life is possible. His wife
Mary Shelley
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...
in her introduction to the 1831 edition of ''
Frankenstein
''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific exp ...
'' wrote that she overheard her husband talk about Darwin's experiments with
Lord Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and Peerage of the United Kingdom, peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and h ...
about unspecified "experiments of Dr. Darwin" that led to the idea for the novel.
Cosmological speculation
Contemporary literature dates the cosmological theories of the
Big Bang and
Big Crunch to the 19th and 20th centuries. However Erasmus Darwin had speculated on these sorts of events in ''The Botanic Garden, A Poem in Two Parts: Part 1, The Economy of Vegetation, 1791'':
Inventions
Darwin was the inventor of several devices, though he did not patent any. He believed this would damage his reputation as a doctor, and encouraged his friends to patent their own modifications of his designs.
* A horizontal
windmill, which he designed for
Josiah Wedgwood (who would be Charles Darwin's other grandfather, see family tree below).
* A
carriage that would not tip over (1766).
* A steering mechanism for his
carriage, known today as the
Ackermann linkage, that would be adopted by cars 130 years later (1759).
* A speaking machine, which was a mechanical larynx made of wood, silk, and leather and pronounced several sounds so well 'as to deceive all who heard it unseen' (at
Clifton in 1799).
* A
canal lift for barges.
* A minute artificial bird.
* A
copying machine (1778).
* A variety of weather monitoring machines.
Rocket engine
In notes dating to 1779, Darwin made a sketch of a simple hydrogen-oxygen
rocket engine
A rocket engine uses stored rocket propellants as the reaction mass for forming a high-speed propulsive Jet (fluid), jet of fluid, usually high-temperature gas. Rocket engines are reaction engines, producing thrust by ejecting mass rearward, i ...
, with gas tanks connected by plumbing and pumps to an elongated combustion chamber and expansion nozzle, a concept not to be seen again until one century later.
J.G.Crowther, New Scientist 12 Dec 1963 p.690 Book Reviews including Desmond King-Hele: 'Erasmus Darwin, 1731–1802'
''books.google.com'', accessed 14 November 2018
Major publications
* Erasmus Darwin, ''A Botanical Society at Lichfield. A System of Vegetables, according to their classes, orders... translated from the 13th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Vegetabiliium''. 2 vols., 1783, Lichfield, J. Jackson, for Leigh and Sotheby, London.
* Erasmus Darwin, ''A Botanical Society at Lichfield. The Families of Plants with their natural characters...Translated from the last edition of Linnaeus' Genera Plantarum''. 1787, Lichfield, J. Jackson, for J. Johnson, London.
* Erasmus Darwin, ''The Botanic Garden
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
, Part I, The Economy of Vegetation''. 1791 London, J. Johnson.
* Part II, ''The Loves of the Plants''. 1789, London, J. Johnson.
* Erasmus Darwin, '' Zoonomia; or, The Laws of Organic Life'', 1794, Part I. London, J. Johnson,
* Part I–III. 1796, London, J. Johnson.
* (last two leaves contain a book list, an apology for the work, and an advert for "Miss Parkers School".)
* Erasmus Darwin, ''Phytologia; or, The Philosophy of Agriculture and Gardening''. 1800, London, J. Johnson.
* Erasmus Darwin, ''The Temple of Nature; or, The Origin of Society''. 1803, London, J. Johnson.
Family tree
Appearances
* Charles Sheffield, an author noted largely for hard science fiction, wrote a number of stories featuring Darwin in a manner quite similar to Sherlock Holmes. These stories were collected in a book, ''The Amazing Dr. Darwin''.
* Darwin's opposition to slavery
Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...
in poetry was included by Benjamin Zephaniah in a reading. This inspired the establishment of th
Genomic Dub Collective
whose album includes quotations from Erasmus "Ras" Darwin, his grandson Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
and Haile Selassie.
* The forgetting of Erasmus' designs for a rocket is a major plot point in Stephen Baxter's tale of alternate universes, ''Manifold: Origin''.
* Phrases from Darwin's poem The Botanic Garden
''The Botanic Garden'' (1791) is a set of two poems, ''The Economy of Vegetation'' and ''The Loves of the Plants'', by the British poet and naturalist Erasmus Darwin. ''The Economy of Vegetation'' celebrates technological innovation and scien ...
are used as chapter headings in ''The Pornographer of Vienna'' by Lewis Crofts
Lewis Charles Crofts, (born in Blackburn, UK on 5 November 1977), is an English author and journalist. He studied Modern and Medieval Languages at St Catherine’s College, Oxford University. He has lived in Hanover ( Germany), France, Pragu ...
.
* British poet J.H. Prynne
Jeremy Halvard Prynne (born 24 June 1936) is a British poet closely associated with the British Poetry Revival.
Prynne grew up in Kent and was educated at St Dunstan's College, Catford, and Jesus College, Cambridge. He is a Life Fellow of Gonvil ...
took on the pseudonym Erasmus W. Darwin for his "plant time" bulletins in the pages of ''Bean News'' (1972).
* A building on the Nottingham Trent University Clifton Campus is named after him. It is the centre for science teaching, academic offices and study space.
* Erasmus Darwin appears as a character in Sergey Lukyanenko's novel ''New Watch
''New Watch'' (russian: «Новый Дозор») is a fantasy novel by the Russian writer Sergei Lukyanenko.
The novel is the fifth in a series that includes ''Night Watch'', '' Day Watch'', ''Twilight Watch'', ''Last Watch'' and ''Sixth Wa ...
'' as a Dark Other and a prophet living in Regent's Park Estate
Regent's Park Estate is a large housing estate in the London Borough of Camden. The estate consists of nearly 2,000 homes across 49 buildings and lies on either side of Robert Street, between Albany Street and Hampstead Road. It is immediatel ...
.
Surviving houses
Erasmus Darwin House, his home in Lichfield, is now a museum dedicated to Erasmus Darwin and his life's work. A school in nearby Chasetown recently converted to Academy status and is now known as Erasmus Darwin Academy.
Works
* Darwin, Erasmus. (1794–96). '' Zoonomia''. J. Johnson (reissued by Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press in the world. It is also the King's Printer.
Cambr ...
, 2009; )
*
See also
* Erasmus Darwin House – The Museum of Erasmus Darwin in Lichfield, Staffordshire
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* History of evolutionary thought
Notes
References
Sources
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Biographies and criticism
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* King-Hele, Desmond. 1963. ''Doctor Darwin''. Scribner's, N.Y.
* King-Hele, Desmond. 1977. ''Doctor of Revolution: the life and genius of Erasmus Darwin''. Faber, London.
* King-Hele, Desmond. 1999. ''Erasmus Darwin: a life of unequalled achievement'' Giles de la Mare Publishers.
* King-Hele, Desmond (ed) 2002. ''Charles Darwin's 'The Life of Erasmus Darwin' '' Cambridge University Press.
* Krause, Ernst 1879. ''Erasmus Darwin, with a preliminary notice by Charles Darwin''. Murray, London.
* Pearson, Hesketh. 1930. ''Doctor Darwin''. Dent, London.
* Porter, Roy, 1989. 'Erasmus Darwin: doctor of evolution?' in 'History, Humanity and Evolution: Essays for John C. Greene, ed. James R. Moore.
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External links
Erasmus Darwin House, Lichfield
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Revolutionary Players website
in Ernst Krause, ''Erasmus Darwin'' (1879)
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