#530: Published on this day

In 1859, Charles Darwin's landmark book 'On the Origin of Species' was first published. 

The work is one of the foundations of evolutionary biology, and one of the most important scientific works of the 19th century.

#206: Natural History Reading List #14: 'The Great Naturalists'

A book published by the Natural History Museum.

Cheap second hand copies are available from various online stores.

It features the following people. 

How many do you know something about? 

What was their particular contribution to the discipline and to Natural History.

Why not give a name to each student. Make sure you have a diverse range of people and backgrounds and contributions.

The Classical World
- Aristotle
- Theophrastus
- Pedianos Dioscorides
- Pliny the Elder

The Renaissance
- Otto Brunfels
- Leonhart Fuchs
- Ulisse Aldrovandi
- Andrea Cisalpino
- Pierre Belon
- Konrad Gessner

The Enlightenment
- Nicolaus Steno
- John Ray
- Antonie van Leeuwenhoek
- Robert Hooke
- Hans Sloane
- Mark Catesby
- Carl Linnaeus
- George-Louis Buffon
- Georg Steller
- Michel Adanson
- Erasmus Darwin
- William Bartram
- Joseph Banks
- Johann Fabricus
- James Hutton
- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck
- Antoine Jussieu
- George Cuvier
- William Smith

19th Century
- Alexander von Humboldt
- John James Audubon
- William Buckland
- Charles Lyell
- Mary Anning
- Richard Owen
- Jean-Louis Agassiz
- Charles Darwin
- Alfred Russel Wallace
- Asa Gray

#202: Worms are important

Worms aren't important are they?

One might imagine so, but some of the early naturalists including Gilbert White and Charles Darwin understood the vital importance of them for soil health and other factors, including the incorporation of organic material into the soil, aeration and other benefits.

Earthworms are described by the Natural History Museum as heroes.

Check out details of the former NHM project called Earthworm Watch. This was a Citizen Science project.

Data collection is now closed, but the results can be viewed.

Hopefully one result of studying the GCSE Natural History will be cohorts of students who appreciate the small things a little more. This is not always about the bigger aspects of Natural History but the smaller elements that contribute to the whole.

My Geographical Association Presidential theme was Everyday Geographies, and this is another example of where small everyday actions can make a large cumulative difference. I'm thinking of developing some support around the idea of "everyday natural history".

“The team found that earthworms are responsible for nearly 7% of global grain harvests, such as rice, wheat, and corn. …In sub-Saharan Africa, where many soils are depleted in nutrients and fertilizer is scarce, earthworms boost grain production by 10%.” https://t.co/hWwt2VHGqi

— David Wallace-Wells (@dwallacewells) December 19, 2023

#185: Origin of Species

Today marks the anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin's 'Origin of Species' (shortened version of full title). Cambridge University Library has a large archive of Darwin's papers.

This can be viewed via this link.

There are links from here through to Darwin's correspondence.

#181: Discovering Galapagos

A sister site to the excellent Discovering Antarctica and Discovering the Arctic.

Discovering Galapagos is put together by the Galapagos Conservation Trust and the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG).

The Galapagos Islands are significant in the development of a number of key theories linked with Natural History.

The site includes a wealth of detail about the islands.

#8: Alfred Russel Wallace - born 200 years ago today

It is likely that the new qualification will reference particular people who are significant in the field of Natural History... these could be biologists or from related sciences. It remains to be seen which people are referenced in the final draft specification and what students might be expected to know about them and their work. One imagines that Alfred Russel Wallace may get a mention.

"...there is no more admirable character in the history of science." 

Sir David Attenborough, 2013

2023 is the bicentenary of the birth of Alfred Russel Wallace.

He was born 200 years ago today.

He is described as a naturalist, explorer, geographer and anthropologist, but also drew maps and carried out biological investigations and species gathering on a range of expeditions. He was also an ornithologist.

He developed similar ideas to those of Charles Darwin at the same time in the area of evolution (known back then as transmutation).

The main website linked to above provides a wealth of information on him.

He was especially known for his studies of its zoogeography, including his discovery and description of the faunal discontinuity that now bears his name. The "Wallace Line," extends between the islands of Bali and Lombok and Borneo and Sulawesi, and marks the limits of eastern extent of many Asian animal species and, conversely, the limits of western extent of many Australasian animals.

He received the RGS-IBG's Founder's Medal.

The theory of evolution by natural selection was first proposed by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the scientific paper below (the part Wallace authored is known as his 'Ternate Essay'). It is probably the most important scientific paper in the history of biology and it was read at a meeting of the Linnean Society of London on July 1st 1858, before being published on the 20th August of that year in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society: Zoology.

Source: https://wallacefund.myspecies.info/content/1858-darwin-wallace-paper