May 2009
Erasmus Darwin
05/14/2009 14:54
Erasmus Darwin translated Linnaeus from Latin to English, inventing dozens of botanical terms in the process. His two long poems, The Economy of Vegetation and The Loves of Plants (combined as The Botanic Garden) introduced mainstream readers to the sciences, especially plant biology, with hundreds of pages of essays and notes explaining the concepts in Darwin’s verse. Erasmus used the poems to comment on the events of the day, making no secret of his support for abolition of slavery and the French Revolution.
Zoonomia was Erasmus Darwin’s major scientific publication and the leading medical/biological book of its day. Published in London in 1796, Zoonomia was reprinted the same year in New York, by “T. & J. Swords, printers to the Faculty of physic of Columbia College,” and again the following year by Thomas Dobson of Philadelphia. A “second edition” was published in 1803 by “Thomas and Andrews” of Boston. By 1818, a “Fourth American Edition” was printed in Philadelphia, by Edward Earle. The continued popularity of Zoonomia over more than two decades suggests a wide readership outside of medical schools. The 1815 “Catalog of the Library of the United States” lists Zoonomia, The Botanic Garden, and Erasmus’ posthumous poem, The Temple of Nature.
Like his grandson, Erasmus Darwin wrote about evolution through natural selection. Chapter 39 of Zoonomia, “On Generation,” presents Erasmus’ ideas on competition, extinction, and how “different fibrils or molecules are detached from…the parent…to form” the child. The Temple of Nature goes even farther, declaring “all vegetables and animals now existing were originally derived from the smallest microscopic ones, formed by spontaneous vitality” in ancient oceans.
Zoonomia was immensely successful. In addition to American and Irish editions, it was translated into German, Italian, French and Portuguese. The European Magazine said Zoonomia “bids fair to do for Medicine what Sir Isaac Newton’s Principia has done for Natural Philosophy.” The Vatican responded to Darwin’s ideas by placing Zoonomia on its Index of banned books. The Temple of Nature was reviled by the Anti-Jacobin Review for its “total denial of any interference of a deity,” while the Gentleman’s Magazine called the poem “glaringly atheistical.” Even Erasmus one-time friend, Unitarian Joseph Priestley, said “if there be any such thing as atheism, this is certainly it.” Priestley was living in Pennsylvania by this time, and may have seen the poem in T. & J. Swords’ 1804 American edition.
Erasmus Darwin was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 1793. His fame in the new United States may be partly due to his friendship with Franklin and sympathy for revolutionary struggles in America and France. And it may be partly due to Zoonomia, which was read widely in the nation’s new medical colleges. But Erasmus popularity among regular people may also spring from his straightforward, secular presentation of evolutionary ideas, and his skepticism of authority. Erasmus warned against unreasoning belief. “In regard to religious matters,” he said, “there is an intellectual cowardice instilled into the minds of people from their infancy; which prevents their inquiry: credulity is made an indispensable virtue; to inquire or exert their reason in religious matters is denounced as sinful; and…is punished with more severe penances than moral crimes.”
So the questions for me to address include, who read all these editions of Darwin in the U.S.? Was Darwin part of a written “tradition” including other popular, straight-talking skeptics like Franklin and Paine? What was it in Darwin’s writing that inspired so many people to name their children after him?
UMass Library
05/07/2009 17:44
When I put up the Darwins page (maybe tonight), I should make a list of the towns, in addition to the map. With population figures from around 1800. Seems like the Darwins are from small, newer towns, generally in the western part of the state. As I was looking in the Vital Records today (page by page, because I’ve already done the easy ones that are online and can be searched), it seemed to me that if there were lots of really old-fashioned sounding biblical names, I was pretty certain NOT to find a Darwin. There were also a few other people who had a lot of kids named for them. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Clay, Luther, Wilberforce, etc. It might be interesting to try to correlate the Darwins with politics, demographics, Shaysite (as in Daniel Shays) towns, etc.
Oh, that’s the view out the 14th floor window I was sitting next to, and the Fit got better than 40 mpg.
At Library with Soundtrack
05/06/2009 16:07
“Rabble Rouser” by KMFDM now—how does this relate? Hmm. Will I feel constrained? Inside the box? And what will I do to avoid that?
“Yiddish Dance” or something like that by Del Castillo—I think this one’s just making it hard for me to think straight.
Now “La Pistola y El Corazon,” by Los Lobos, which is easier because I’m not trying to understand the words. Need to make a page for the Erasmus Darwins, and follow up with the historical societies. And later this week, get down to the UMass library and get to work finding the rest of them in the Vital Records that aren’t online yet.
“Where Are We Running” – Lenny Kravitz. I should put up a page on the mercury controversy in the Boston Surgical and Medical, too. That might be a first paper for a sci/med focus. (now “Flash” by Lenny—I swear it’s random! “I am not gonna waste this moment, cuz these moments don’t last.”) And the Chilean stuff: do I have enough of that for another paper? Probably not without going back and doing some primary work. I wonder if Brown Univ. has anything on José Tomas Urmeneta (who went there – when? 1860s? What would he have taken back? Maybe that’s an angle.
“Lose Yourself” – well, it’s a workout mix. “you only get one shot, don’t miss your chance to blow.” Knowlton and the church – if I take it back to Yale and bring forward the Ashfield theme of divisiveness (Baptist vs. Congregationalist)? Where do I want to put these things? I really haven’t paid attention to the ways historiographical styles match up with themes, or the publications that specialize in these. Will have to start scanning journals, I suppose.
“Miserlou” reminds me of whacking rabbids on the Wii. Now “Jai Ho” -- I’ve been emailing. Lucy’s English teachers are CYA-ing big-time. Good news is I can work with her on her writing this summer. AGUA? Maybe that’s something, if I follow dependencia through to neo-liberalism. Water would be a good topic, and Bolivia might be fun to visit on a research grant…New England and Latin America? JQ Adams? The first agrarian republic and influence in either direction? Spanish America is so much older than New England. I wonder if there’s any contact at all?
“Rock is Dead,” – I’m not much of a Manson fan, but I love this song. Looks like there might be something to look into on the Spanish/New England front, judging from JSTOR. Even if I want to stay in the 19th C. And, I have to look at labor and Heighton before next fall. Track down what may have happened after he fell off the radar. What’s happening to labor history, now that the labor historians are all reaching retirement age?
“Overkill” again. Probably a sign it’s time to leave.
