Human evolution was a pretty crazy event (or series of events, specifically). One can’t help but wonder, how did a group of tree-dwelling apes evolve into the large-brained, upright walking creatures we see dominating the planet today? On a related note–where did this transformation even occur? This question–the question of where–has a fascinating history. Scientists…
If you’ve been following along, you know I’ve been detailing the event of “Darwin’s Worst Nightmare” as it unfolded in 1858. First, Darwin received a letter that rocked his world (not in a good way), then he asked his friends to spring into action and help him preserve his scientific priority. Today, July 1st marks the final…
June 18th, 1858 was a rough day for Charles Darwin. On that day, he saw his worst nightmare unfold right in front of his eyes. “All my originality, whatever it may amount to, will be smashed,” he wrote to a friend, fearing that his life’s work had collapsed. What caused this moment of panic? A…
Charles Darwin was born today (February 12), 208 years ago. The world he was born into would be entirely unrecognizable to us today. Bicycles had yet to be invented, steam engines were just beginning to appear, and slavery was commonly practiced in both England and the United States. During the course of his lifetime, Darwin saw the…
Sir Richard Owen is often remembered for his massive row with Charles Darwin and Darwin’s followers over the theory of evolution through natural selection. Scientists like Thomas Huxley painted Owen as a backward creationist who didn’t conduct good science. But Owen was much more complex than that. Though he didn’t fully agree with Darwin’s version…
November 24th is my favorite day of the year. Not because ski season has officially begun (though that is great), but because a couple of pretty incredible events occurred on this day in history. On November 24th, Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species was published AND our favorite human ancestor, Lucy, was discovered! Both moments,…
Wallace and Darwin Alfred Russel Wallace was truly a fascinating man. His story is made up of travels and shipwrecks, but also hardship and friendship. But mostly, Wallace just loved nature. As many of you know, while researching biogeography in the Malay Archipelago, Wallace came up with a very similar theory to Darwin’s natural selection. Wallace sent Darwin…
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about George Busk. He was a surgeon and paleontologist who lived in London in the nineteenth century (at the same time as Darwin) and he studied everything from sea moss to cave bears–even human skulls. Over the past few years, I’ve sifted through dozens of Busk’s old notebooks,…
Fossil History 