Dogma, Doctrine & Deduction: Darwin's Life of Discovery

>> ...AND DEDUCTION, DARWIN'S LIFE OF DISCOVERY,
AND WELCOMING DR. GREG FORBES.
(applause) >> THANK YOU VERY MUCH.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, JEFF.
CAN EVERYBODY HEAR ME, BACK IN THE CHEAP SEATS?
ARE WE GOOD?
WELL, WELCOME.
I'M A LITTLE HOARSE HERE.
IT'S ONE OF TWO THINGS-- PUBERTY OR FIVE AND A HALF HOURS OF LECTURE TODAY.
I'M HOPING IT'S THE SECOND ONE.
THE FIRST ONE WOULD HAVE BETTER DREAMS, THOUGH.
BUT I DIGRESS! (audience chuckling)
WHAT WE HERE FOR TONIGHT?
TONIGHT, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A LOOK AT DARWIN'S LIFE.
LOVE HIM OR HATE HIM, UNDERSTAND HIM OR MISQUOTE HIM,
WITHOUT A DOUBT, ONE OF THE SEMINAL PERSONALITIES ON THE PLANET.
THIS IS A MAN WHOSE PRESENCE ON THE PLANET HAS CHANGED THE WAY
WE LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND US,
CHANGED THE LENS THROUGH WHICH WE VIEW NATURE.
AND REGARDLESS OF YOUR PERSPECTIVE ON EVOLUTION,
THIS IS A MAN THAT'S HAD INFLUENCE
ON VIRTUALLY EVERYBODY IN THE WESTERN WORLD.
AND WHAT'S INTERESTING ABOUT HIM--
HIS FATHER HAD NO HOPES FOR HIS SUCCESS.
THIS WAS AN "IDLE BOY."
A BOY THAT WAS SURE TO EMBARRASS THE FAMILY,
THAT SURELY WOULD NOT KEEP UP THE DARWIN NAME.
AND LIKE MOST PARENTS, WE ALWAYS HOPE
THAT OUR EARLY INTUITIONS ARE WRONG.
BUT THE QUESTION IS, HOW DO OUR KIDS TURN AROUND?
AND WHAT ARE THE INFLUENCES-- IS IT NATURE?
IS IT NURTURE?
IS IT SOME COMBINATION OF THE TWO?
AND IN DARWIN'S CASE,
IT WAS CLEARLY COMBINATION OF THE TWO.
AND WHAT I WANT TO DO IN THE PRESENTATION TONIGHT
IS TALK ABOUT HOW DARWIN,
A BOY WHO DIDN'T LOOK LIKE HE WAS GOING ANYWHERE,
EVENTUALLY CHANGED THE WORLD AS WE SEE IT.
AND SO, WHAT WE WANT TO DO TONIGHT IS TAKE A LOOK AT, FIRST OF ALL,
KIND OF THE EARLY YEARS OF DARWIN'S LIFE.
HOW HE WAS INTRODUCED TO THE DOGMA.
HOW HE WAS TOLD WHAT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO THINK,
HOW HE WAS SUPPOSED TO THINK IT, AND WHEN HE WAS SUPPOSED TO THINK IT.
AND WE'LL TALK ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY YEARS, INTRODUCED TO DOCTRINE.
IN FACT, MANY PEOPLE DON'T UNDERSTAND THAT DARWIN'S COLLEGE DEGREE
IS ACTUALLY IN THEOLOGY, CONTRARY TO POPULAR BELIEF.
AND THEN, WE'RE GONNA TAKE A LOOK HERE AT THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE--
A QUICK TREATISE OF THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE.
BECAUSE WE'RE ALL PRETTY FAMILIAR WITH THAT.
WE WANNA TALK ABOUT SOME IMPORTANT POINTS DURING THAT VOYAGE,
THINGS THAT CHANGED THE WAY THAT DARWIN LOOKED AT THAT WORLD,
HOW THAT QUESTIONED THAT DOGMA,
HOW HE QUESTIONED THAT DOCTRINE,
AND THEN, MADE DISCOVERIES THAT NOBODY BEFORE HIM,
FOR WHATEVER REASON, HAD MADE,
'CAUSE NOBODY HAD HELD THAT LENS
THROUGH WHICH HE VIEWED NATURE IN THE SAME ANGLE.
THEN, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK AT THE LONG ROAD TO "THE ORIGIN."
WHY DID IT TAKE A CHUCK 23 YEARS AFTER GETTING BACK FROM THE VOYAGE
TO WRITE "THE ORIGIN"?
EVERY TIME MY STUDENTS COME IN WITH A LATE PAPER,
THEY GO, "COME ON, GIVE ME A BREAK.
"IT TOOK DARWIN 23 YEARS.
"GIVE ME AN EXTRA DAY." (audience laughing)
DOESN'T CUT IT, BUT IT'S A GOOD ARGUMENT.
SO, WHAT WE WANT TO DO HERE, THEN,
IS TAKE A LOOK HERE AT WHAT HAPPENED TO DARWIN.
HOW DID DARWIN ARRIVE AT THESE IDEAS?
AND WE'LL FINISH WITH AN EPILOGUE,
AND WHERE ARE WE TODAY AS A RESULT OF DARWIN BEING HERE?
BUT I WANT TO START WITH A QUOTE.
ONE OF MY FAMOU-- MY FAVORITE QUOTES IN SCIENCE, COMING FROM ISAAC NEWTON,
WHO SAYS, "IF I HAVE SEEN FURTHER,
"IT IS BY STANDING ON YE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS."
WHICH, OF COURSE, MEANS THAT WE ACHIEVE IN OUR SOCIETY,
WE ACHIEVE IN OUR LIVES, WE ACHIEVE IN CIVILIZATION,
NOT BECAUSE WE CREATE THE WHEEL DURING THE NEXT GENERATION,
BUT OTHERS BEFORE US HAVE LAID THAT FOUNDATION,
AND WE BUILD UPON WHAT THEY'VE DONE.
AND WE'RE GONNA SEE THAT DARWIN, IN FACT,
HAS DONE JUST THAT FOR GENERATIONS WHO FOLLOWED HIM,
EVEN THROUGH IT WAS NOT A VERY PROMISING START.
SO, WE'LL TAKE A LOOK HERE AT THE EARLY YEARS.
YOU KNOW, WHERE DID DARWIN COME FROM?
WHERE DID HE START?
WHAT KIND OF FAMILY?
HE WAS BORN JUST A FEW DAYS FROM NOW, BACK 1809 IN FEBRUARY 12th.
HERE'S WHERE HE WAS BORN-- AN AREA CALLED "THE MOUNT."
WE NAMED OUR HOUSES BACK THEN, WHEN WE HAD ESTATES AND SERVANTS.
WE CAN DO SUCH THINGS.
SO, HE LIVED IN THE MOUNT IN SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND.
HE WAS THE FIFTH OF SIX CHILDREN, AND HE WAS BORN INTO, LUCKILY,
A VERY, VERY WEALTHY FAMILY.
HERE IS HIS FATHER, ALL 362 POUNDS OF HIM. (audience reacts)
HE WAS A LARGE MAN, NOT ONLY IN PHYSICAL PRESENCE
BUT ALSO IN DEMEANOR,
BECAUSE HE RULED THE ROOST, WHICH WAS TYPICAL OF VICTORIAN FAMILIES BACK THEN.
IN FACT, A VERY DEMANDING FATHER
THAT HAD VERY REGIMENTED LIFESTYLE FOR BREAKFAST AT A CERTAIN TIME,
LUNCH AS A CERTAIN TIME, AND EVERY DAY,
THERE WERE MANDATORY FAMILY MEETINGS TO DISCUSS NEWS EVENTS,
EVENTS OF THE FAMILY, EVENTS OF THE COMMUNITY--
'CAUSE, YOU SEE, THIS WAS JUST A FEW YEARS BETWEEN CABLE AND FACEBOOK.
(audience laughing) SO THEY HAD NOTHING ELSE TO DO.
AND IN FACT, DARWIN LOOKS BACK
AND SAYS THAT THESE WERE SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CONVERSATIONS
HE HAD IN HIS FORMATIVE YEARS, TO ALLOW HIM TO LOOK, AGAIN,
DIFFERENTLY AT THE WORLD AROUND HIM.
NOW, CHARLES' MOTHER, SUSANNAH, DIED WHEN HE WAS JUST EIGHT YEARS OLD.
AND THEREFORE, HE DID NOT KNOW HIS MOTHER.
AS A RESULT, ANY COMFORT, ANY PARENTING HE GOT-- ALBEIT, MINIMAL--
WAS FROM HIS FATHER.
HIS FATHER, AFTER ALL, WAS A PHYSICIAN.
HIS GRANDFATHER WAS A PHYSICIAN.
HAD A FAMILY PRACTICE--
THERE WAS LITTLE TIME FOR THE SIX CHILDREN.
SO, ANY SOLACE THAT CHARLES GOT FROM PARENTING
WAS USUALLY FROM HIS FATHER,
'CAUSE AGAIN, HIS MOTHER WASN'T THERE FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE.
BUT DARWIN CAME FROM A WELL-VESTED FAMILY.
HE HAD A FATHER AND A GRANDFATHER IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND THAT WERE PHYSICIANS,
SO HIS INCOME WAS GUARANTEED FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
HE DIDN'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT, HAD THERE BEEN A TACO BELL JOB BACK THEN,
A TACO BELL JOB.
HE WAS FINANCIALLY SECURE.
BUT ALSO, IT TURNED OUT,
THAT HIS GRANDPARENTS WHERE THE WEDGWOODS--
JOSIAH AND SARAH WEDGWOOD-- OF WEDGWOOD CHINA FAME.
STILL ALIVE TODAY-- THE COMPANY, RATHER-- AND DOING QUITE WELL.
SO, HE'S DOING QUITE WELL.
HE NEVER REALLY HAD TO WORRY
WHERE THE NEXT MOUTH OF FOOD WAS GOING TO COME FROM,
AND THAT WAS PERCEIVED IN HIS ATTITUDE TOWARDS HIS SCHOOLING.
YOU PARENTS CAN RELATE TO THIS, RIGHT?
"WHEN ARE OUR KIDS GOING TO GET SERIOUS IN SCHOOL?
"WHEN WILL THEY HAVE A JOB FOR MORE THAN SIX MONTHS?"
WELL, WHEN YOU HAVE THE FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO BACK YOURSELF UP,
SOMETIMES YOU DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT MAYBE LIKE YOU SHOULD.
CHARLES'S GRANDFATHER, ERASMUS DARWIN--
INTERESTING GENTLEMAN, DIED SEVEN YEARS BEFORE DARWIN WAS BORN.
HE WAS A PHYSICIAN, ALSO, A NATURALIST, A POET, AND A PHILOSOPHER.
IN FACT, HE WAS PROBABLY SOME OF THAT EARLY GENETIC STOCK
THAT GAVE RISE TO DARWIN'S THINKING.
IN FACT, HIS GRANDFATHER WROTE A BOOK HERE CALLED, "ZOONOMIA,"
OR "THE LAWS OF ORGANIC LIFE, VOLUMES ONE AND TWO,"
PUBLISHED OVER A TWO YEAR PERIOD.
AND IN THESE VOLUMES,
HIS GRANDFATHER PROPOSED-- LOOK AT THE QUOTE--
THAT "LIFE ON EARTH HAD ARISEN FROM ONE LIVING FILAMENT."
WE'RE TALKING A COMMON ANCESTOR, HERE, AREN'T WE?
SO, THE HERESY THAT EVERYBODY BLAMED UPON DARWIN, APPARENTLY,
THERE WAS A GENETIC ROUTE HERE, IN HIS GRANDFATHER.
(audience laughing)
NOW, HIS EARLY EDUCATION WAS HERE AT THE SHREWSBURY GRAMMAR SCHOOL.
AND HE WAS-- THE LAST THING HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT--
HE BEGAN HERE-- HE WENT HERE TILL HE WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD-- WAS EDUCATION.
HE WAS CONCERNED ABOUT PLAYING ON THE PLAYGROUND WITH HIS BUDDIES
AND DOING ATHLETIC EVENTS.
HE COULDN'T CARE LESS ABOUT THE ACADEMICS.
IN FACT, HE WAS CONSIDERED BY THE SCHOOLMASTER
TO BE A SHY AND RESERVED BOY,
SOMETHING THAT PROBABLY CHARACTERIZED HIM, IN FACT,
FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
HE WAS NOT AN EXTROVERT, BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION.
WELL, AFTER HE'D WENT FROM THE SHREWSBURY SCHOOL,
HE WENT HERE, TO REVEREND SAMUEL BUTLER'S SHREWSBURY SCHOOL.
HE WAS CONSIDERED HERE, BY SAMUEL BUTLER, TO BE A "SLOW BOY,"
BECAUSE WHAT THEY WERE STUDYING BACK IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND, REMEMBER,
WAS LATIN AND GREEK, SO THEY COULD READ LATIN AND GREEK,
AND LIKE MOST YOUNG BOYS, HE FOUND LATIN AND GREEK,
REGARDLESS OF WHICH ROOT YOU CHOOSE, TO BE BORING.
AND SO, HE DIDN'T APPLY HIMSELF.
AND THIS IS THE CASE WITH SO MANY KIDS IN SCHOOL, RIGHT?
IF YOU'RE STUDYING A TOPIC YOU'RE NOT INTERESTED IN,
YOU MAY NOT EXCEL.
BUT WHAT HE DID DISCOVER
WHEN HE WAS AT SHREWSBURY WAS SHAKESPEARE AND BYRON.
AND READING SHAKESPEARE AND BYRON LASTED HIM FOR HIS ENTIRE LIFE.
SO, WE GO, FIRST OF ALL, FROM A "SHY AND RESERVED BOY"
TO A "SLOW BOY"--
THINGS AREN'T LOOKING UP FOR CHUCK HERE,
ON THE PERSPECTIVE, REGARDLESS OF HIS PARENTAGE.
WELL, HIS FATHER, BEING VERY CONCERNED ABOUT HIS SON,
WHO HAD NO ATTENTION SPAN, HAD NO INTEREST,
DECIDED, "WHAT DOES EVERY GOOD FATHER DO?"
YOU GET A CHEMISTRY LAB IN THE GARDEN SHED.
BUT REMEMBER, THESE WEREN'T O.S.H.A.-APPROVED BACK THEN.
(audience laughing) BAD THINGS COULD HAPPEN
IN THE CHEMISTRY SHED.
SO, AT 13 YEARS OLD,
HE HAS CHARLES OUT IN THE SHED, JUST MIXING STUFF...
TO SEE WHAT HAPPENED.
HE DIDN'T KILL HIMSELF.
THERE WERE SOME INTERESTING OUTCOMES, BUT HE DIDN'T KILL HIMSELF.
BUT THE IMPORTANT POINT--
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HE GOT A CHANCE TO ACTUALLY PLAY WITH SCIENCE,
TO ACTUALLY TRY AND DO SOME INVESTIGATION.
NOW, IT TURNED OUT WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD,
HE WAS REMOVED FROM THE SHREWSBURY SCHOOL,
BECAUSE HIS FATHER CONSIDERED HIM TO BE "AN IDLE BOY."
HE WAS BASICALLY FAILING MOST OF HIS SUBJECTS.
AND IT COST A LOT OF MONEY TO SEND YOUR SON TO THESE VICTORIAN SCHOOLS.
SO, HIS FATHER SAID, "CHARLES, I'M PULLING YOU OUT.
"YOU'RE 16 YEARS OLD.
"YOU'RE GOING TO WORK WITH ME."
SO, HE WAS FORCED TO WORK WITH HIS FATHER OVER THE SUMMER
AS A SURGICAL AIDE.
REMEMBER, MANY PHYSICIANS BACK THEN DIDN'T GO TO MEDICAL SCHOOL.
YOU CAN DO HOME TRAINING, YOU CAN DO ON-THE-JOB TRAINING.
SO, WHAT THE HECK-- "MY KID'S 16-- TAKE THE APPENDIX OUT."
(audience laughing) SO, HE DID THIS DURING THE SUMMER,
AND HE THOUGHT, "WELL, YOU KNOW,
"WE MAYBE NEED TO FORMALIZE HIS EDUCATION."
SO, HIS FATHER, USING HIS CONNECTIONS, MANAGED TO GET HIM INTO A UNIVERSITY,
AND THE UNIVERSITY HE WENT TO WAS A MEDICAL SCHOOL AT EDINBURGH, IN SCOTLAND,
WHICH IS CONSIDERED TO BE, AT THAT POINT, THE FOREMOST MEDICAL SCHOOL,
BASICALLY, ON THE CONTINENT.
AND SO, HE JOINED HIS BROTHER THERE WHEN HE WAS 16 YEARS OLD--
HE WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL.
HIS BROTHER, ERASMUS-- NAMED AFTER THE GRANDFATHER--
WAS ALREADY THERE ON HIS THIRD YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL.
HE WAS ON HIS THIRD YEAR AT MEDICAL SCHOOL AND HE THOUGHT, "WELL, COME ON, CHARLES.
"COME ON UP TO SCOTLAND.
"WE'LL ROOM TOGETHER."
THEY GOT, ACTUALLY, A FLAT ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE UNIVERSITY.
AND THEY DECIDED THAT, "WELL, THIS IS WHAT WE'RE GOING TO DO,"
AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM.
HIS FATHER DECIDED THAT UNIVERSITY'S WHERE HE SHOULD BE.
HE SHOULD BE WITH HIS BROTHER, 'CAUSE THIS IS A BOY LIKELY TO GO ASTRAY.
AND CLEARLY, IF WE HAVE A FAMILY MEMBER WATCHING OVER HIM,
HE'LL STICK TO THE BOOKS.
YEAH, TAKE TWO ADOLESCENT PUBESCENT-- POST-PUBESCENT BOYS,
SEND 'EM TO COLLEGE IN A DIFFERENT AREA, THEY'LL BE RIGHT ON TASK.
(audience laughing)
WHILE HE WAS THERE, DARWIN MADE CONTACT WITH, ACTUALLY, A NEIGHBOR--
JOHN EDMONSTONE, WHO WAS A FREED SLAVE FROM GUYANA, A BLACK MAN.
THIS IS HUGELY SIGNIFICANT IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF DARWIN,
BECAUSE REMEMBER, THIS IS VICTORIAN ENGLAND,
WHERE THERE WAS THIS DEFINITE CASTE SYSTEM,
THERE WAS A RACIAL DIVIDE,
AND THIS WAS THE FIRST BLACK MAN HE HAD LEARNED TO UNDERSTAND,
TO APPRECIATE, TO ACKNOWLEDGE WAS INTELLIGENT.
BECAUSE HE WAS RAISED, REMEMBER, IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND.
IN FACT, THEY SPENT A LOT OF TIME TOGETHER.
HE GREW VERY RESPECTFUL, VERY IMPRESSED, BY JOHN'S KNOWLEDGE,
AND JOHN TAUGHT HIM HOW TO DO TAXIDERMY
AND TOLD HIM WILD STORIES ABOUT LIFE IN THE TROPICS,
AND GOT DARWIN'S JUICES KINDA FLOWING ABOUT THE TROPICS,
'CAUSE REMEMBER, DARWIN HAD NEVER BEEN OUTSIDE OF ENGLAND
EXCEPT FOR SCOTLAND.
AND SO, THIS WAS, YOU KNOW, THE STORIES FROM THE FIELD.
REMEMBER, YOU COULDN'T WATCH IT ON DISCOVERY CHANNEL.
SO, HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH EDMONSTONE WAS A SEMINAL RELATIONSHIP
THAT WOULD CHANGE HIS VIEW ON THE TREATMENT OF BLACKS
AND MINORITIES AND NON-WHITES IN LATER YEARS.
WELL, HIS BROTHER RETURNS TO CAMBRIDGE FOR THE LAST YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL.
DARWIN GOES BACK TO HIS SECOND YEAR OF MEDICAL SCHOOL...
AND HE'S NOT ENJOYING THIS, 'CAUSE THE WHOLE SIGHT OF BLOOD
DOESN'T REALLY FARE VERY WELL.
NOW, REMEMBER HOW WE WERE DOING SURGERIES BACK THEN.
WE DIDN'T HAVE ETHER TILL THE KOREAN WAR.
WE DIDN'T HAVE GENERAL ANESTHESIA TILL THE '60s.
WHAT DID YOU DO BACK IN THE 1800s WHEN YOU SAW A SURGERY?
"HERE-- HERE'S A PIECE OF LEATHER-- BITE ON THIS."
AND IF YOU HAD FOUR SURGEONS,
THREE OF 'EM WERE HOLDING THE PATIENT DOWN,
THE OTHER ONE WAS GOING AT IT WITH THE SCALPEL.
THIS WAS NOT A PLEASANT SCENE.
SO, HE DECIDED, "THIS IS NOT SOMETHING I'M INTERESTED IN,
"BUT MY FATHER'S ONLY GOING TO PAY MY BILLS
"IF I GO TO MED SCHOOL, SO I'LL GO."
BUT WHILE HE WAS THERE,
HE TOOK A COURSE FROM ROBERT JAMESON, A GEOLOGIST.
HATED IT.
WHICH IS INTERESTING, BECAUSE DARWIN TURNS OUT TO-- STILL TO THIS DAY--
HAVING WRITTEN SOME OF THE PREMIER BOOKS IN GEOLOGY EVER WRITTEN.
THIS IS A GOOD NOTICE FOR ALL OF YOU STUDENTS IN HERE--
WHEN YOU TAKE A CLASS AND YOU THINK,
"THIS IS THE WORST CLASS I'VE EVER HAD,"
IT JUST COULD BE THE PROFESSOR, RIGHT?
DOESN'T MEAN THAT IT'S THE TOPIC.
AND THIS IS A GREAT EXAMPLE HERE.
OH, DARWIN TOLD HIS FATHER HE WAS GOING TO CLASSES,
BUT HE SPENT MOST HIS TIME HERE AT THE EDINBURGH MUSEUM,
LOOKING AT SPECIMENS THAT HAD BEEN COLLECTED FROM OUTSIDE ENGLAND.
REMEMBER, FOLKS, PUT IT IN CONTEXT.
PEOPLE HAD NO TELEVISION, THEY HAD NO PHOTOGRAPHS,
THEY HAD NONE OF THIS ABILITY TO LOOK AT LIFE
FROM OUTSIDE THEIR IMMEDIATE SPHERE,
EXCEPT WHAT THEY SAW IN THE MUSEUMS.
AND THIS IS WHAT REALLY GOT DARWIN EXCITED,
IS LOOKING AT THE SKELETONS AND THE SPECIMENS.
AND HE BEGAN TO ASK QUESTIONS ABOUT, "WHY THIS DIVERSITY?
"WHY BIRDS BUILT IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS?
"WHY ANIMALS BUILT IN SO MANY DIFFERENT WAYS?
"WHY SO MANY PLANTS?
"WHY THE DIVERSITY?"
WHILE HE WAS AT EDINBURGH, THERE WAS A SOCIETY THAT STARTED
JUST THREE YEARS BEFORE CALLED THE "PLINIAN SOCIETY,"
WHICH IS CONSIDERED HERETICAL, AT THAT TIME,
BECAUSE THIS WAS THE FIRST ENGLISH SOCIETY OF ACADEMICS--
MOSTLY STUDENTS AND PROFESSORS--
WHO GOT TOGETHER ON CAMPUS
TO DISCUSS NATURE... FROM A NON-THEISTIC WAY.
FROM A SECULAR WAY.
AND THAT WAS HERESY BACK THEN.
IN FACT, IN ITS FIRST SEVERAL YEARS, IT'D ALMOST MEET SECRETIVELY.
BUT THIS IS THE FIRST TIME DARWIN COULD FIND HIS NEW INTEREST IN NATURE
DISCUSSED FROM A NON-THEISTIC, SECULAR WAY.
AND THAT WAS AN INTERESTING THING FOR DARWIN,
'CAUSE HE NEVER HAD THE TIME TO DO THIS OR THE OPPORTUNITY.
REMEMBER, HE'S JUST 17 YEARS OLD AT THIS POINT.
WELL, AT 18, HE FIGURES, "HECK, I FINISHED ALMOST TWO SEMESTERS IN MED SCHOOL,
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH."
HE QUITS MEDICAL SCHOOL, TELLS DAD, "DAD, I'M COMING HOME."
HE GOES, "OKAY, SO YOU GOT KICKED OUT OF SCHOOL, BASICALLY?
"YOU'VE QUIT MED SCHOOL.
"WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?"
HIS FATHER NOW SAYS, "I'M SO CONCERNED
"THAT MY SON'S GOING TO BECOME NOT AN 'IDLE BOY' BUT AN 'IDLE GENTLEMAN.'"
HE GOES ON TO SAY THAT, "DARWIN, CHUCK, CHARLES, YOU CARE FOR NOTHING...
"BUT SHOOTING YOUR DOGS AND RAT CATCHING,
"AND YOU'LL BE A DISGRACE TO YOURSELF AND ALL OF YOUR FAMILY."
(audience laughing) WOW, OKAY!
GOOD THING THERE'S NO OUIJA BOARD HERE.
I MEAN, THAT WOULDN'T HAVE PLAYED OUT VERY WELL.
SO, THE QUESTION IS "WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?
"SENT MY KID TO MED SCHOOL, DROPPED OUT OF MED SCHOOL,
"HE'S BACK HOME AGAIN."
SEE, EVEN THE BOOMERANG GENERATION WAS AVAILABLE BACK THEN.
(audience laughing)
COMES BACK, "HOW TO GET THIS KID OUT OF THE HOUSE?
"HE JUST KEEPS COMING BACK."
SO, HIS FATHER COMES UP WITH AN IDEA, "MEDICINE, SCIENCE-- NOT GOOD?
"MAYBE LET'S GO THE OPPOSITE WAY.
"LET'S GET 'IM INTO THEOLOGY SCHOOL."
SO, HIS FATHER GETS HIM INTO CHRIST'S COLLEGE,
WHICH IS AN ANGLICAN COLLEGE AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY.
AND CHARLES SAYS, "OKAY.
"THEY HAVE RATS THERE I CAN CATCH.
"THEY HAVE DOGS I CAN PLAY WITH.
"AND I'M SURE THEY READ SHAKESPEARE AND DRINK.
"SO, WHY NOT?" (audience laughing)
YEAH, DAD SENT HIM TO THE COLLEGE--
WHEN HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ABOUT A BAD DORM PARTY?
SO, HE DECIDES, "I'LL GO AHEAD AND GO."
SPENDS MOST OF HIS TIME THAT FIRST SUMMER, THOUGH,
COLLECTING BEETLES, READING SHAKESPEARE, AND HAVING DINNER PARTIES,
'CAUSE HE HAD THE RESOURCES TO DO SO.
SO, YES, HE WAS IN "THEOLOGY SCHOOL,"
BUT HE WAS HAVING A LOT OF TIME IN EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES.
AND SO, EVENTUALLY THOUGH, IN HIS SECOND SEMESTER,
HE COMES BACK AND HE MEETS CAMBRIDGE BOTANIST,
REVEREND JOHN STEVENS HENSLOW.
MANY OF US CAN LOOK BACK TO THE PEOPLE WE'VE MET IN OUR LIFE
AND SAID, "THIS IS THE PERSON WHO CHANGED THE WAY I VIEW THE WORLD.
"THIS IS THE PERSON THAT CHANGED MY CAREER.
"THIS IS THE PERSON WHO I AM MOST LIKE."
BECAUSE WHAT ARE WE ALL, IN OUR AGES-- IN EVERY AGE?
YOU'RE A PRODUCT OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT YOU'VE ENCOUNTERED IN YOUR LIFE.
AND HENSLOW WAS ONE SUCH PERSON.
HENSLOW SAW DARWIN DIFFERENTLY.
HE SAID, "I SEE DARWIN AS A YOUNG MAN WITH MUCH POTENTIAL."
AND THIS IS PROBABLY THE FIRST TIME THAT THERE HAD BEEN A PATRIARCHAL FIGURE
IN DARWIN'S LIFE THAT INSTEAD OF SAYING, "YOU'RE AN IDLE BOY," ETCETERA,
SAID, "I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU."
DARWIN BLOSSOMED UNDER THAT CONFIDENCE
AND SPENT AS MUCH TIME AS HE COULD WITH HENSLOW.
IN FACT, HENSLOW-- BACK IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND,
YOU WOULD HAVE DINNER AT YOUR PROFESSOR'S HOUSES ON THE WEEKEND
AND DISCUSS-- AND THIS HAPPENED ALL OVER, IN THE U.S.,
TILL MAYBE THE '60s OR '70s,
AND NOW, WE FROWN UPON SUCH THINGS.
BUT YOU KNOW, IT WAS A GREAT OPPORTUNITY.
MANY OF US DID THIS IN GRAD SCHOOL.
YOU'D GET TOGETHER AT YOUR PROFESSOR'S HOUSE ON THE WEEKEND--
THIS IS WHERE GREAT DISCUSSIONS HAPPENED.
HE LOVED BEING WITH HENSLOW.
IN FACT, HE WAS SEEN SO MUCH WITH HENSLOW ON CAMBRIDGE CAMPUS--
NOBODY KNOW WHO DARWIN WAS,
BUT HE WAS REFERRED TO AS "THE MAN WHO WALKS WITH HENSLOW."
(audience laughing) THESE TWO BECAME INSEPARABLE.
AND HENSLOW BECAME AN ABSOLUTE SEMINAL PORTION OF DARWIN'S LIFE.
IN FACT, DARWIN SPEAKING OF HENSLOW, LATER ON IN LIFE, SAID,
"MY MEETING WITH HIM IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE MOST IMPORTANT CIRCUMSTANCE
"IN MY WHOLE CAREER.
"I FULLY BELIEVE A BETTER MAN NEVER WALKED ON THIS EARTH."
WHAT WE HAVE, IN THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION,
WE, IN PART, HAVE TO THANK HENSLOW FOR AND HIS SUPPORT OF YOUNG DARWIN.
WELL, AFTER THAT NEXT SUMMER, DARWIN,
WHO'S OUT SPENDING TIME WITH HIS BUDDY JOHN HERBERT--
NOW THAT HE'S FINISHED A WHOLE YEAR IN THEOLOGY SCHOOL,
SAYS, "I'M STARTING TO DOUBT WHETHER I ACTUALLY WANT TO ENTER THE CLERGY.
"I'M ACTUALLY STARTING TO FIND MORE INTEREST IN EXPLORING NATURE."
NOW, UNDERSTAND THERE WASN'T ANY FORMAL TRAINING
AVAILABLE IN BIOLOGY BACK THEN-- IN THE SCIENCES.
IS THAT BACK IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND, YOU WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL--
IF YOU WENT TO MEDICAL SCHOOL AT ALL--
AND THEN, YOU SOUGHT TRAINING BEYOND THAT.
YOU MAYBE TRAINED IN BOTANY.
YOU TRAINED IN ZOOLOGY.
YOU TRAINED AS SOMETHING ELSE, BUT YOU DID MED SCHOOL FIRST.
THAT'S WHERE YOUR SCIENCE TRAINING CAME.
SO, YOU COULDN'T GO AND GET A BACHELOR'S IN BIOLOGY, FOR INSTANCE.
IF YOU DID MED SCHOOL AND YOU DID THIS, USUALLY BY TRAINING YOURSELF.
AND DARWIN WAS NOW LEANING TOWARDS THAT,
'CAUSE HE FOUND MORE AND MORE JOY AND MORE AND MORE FASCINATION IN NATURE
THAN HE DID IN THEOLOGY, THAN HE DID IN MEDICAL SCHOOL.
NOW, THIS IS GOING TO BE SOMETHING THAT WON'T BE LOST ON SOME OF YOU IN THE ROOM--
WHEN HE RETURNS TO CHRIST'S COLLEGE THE SECOND YEAR,
HE GETS A NEW DORM ROOM.
IT'S THE FORMER DORM ROOM OF REVEREND WILLIAM PALEY.
AND IF SOME OF YOU DON'T KNOW PALEY--
PALEY, IN 1802, WROTE A BOOK CALLED, "NATURAL THEOLOGY."
HE'S THE FATHER OF, YOU KNOW, "THE BLIND WATCHMAKER,"
YOU KNOW, "IF A ROCK IS FOUND IN A"-- TRANSLATING--
"IN A FIELD, I ASSUME THAT ROCK HAS BEEN THERE ALL ALONG."
AND TURNS OUT THAT PALEY WAS THE ONE WHO WAS THE STANDARD READING
IN BIOLOGY TEXTS, ALL THE WAY UP THROUGH THE 1800s.
AND BASICALLY, PALEY'S WAS NATURAL THEOLOGY--
WHAT WE SEE IN NATURE HAD AN ORIGINAL TIME IN CREATION
AND HASN'T BEEN CHANGED SINCE.
AND STAYING IN THE VERY SAME ROOM...
COMES DARWIN!
IRONY!
IRONY AT ITS BEST!
OKAY?
SO, HE SPENDS MORE TIME NOW--
IN THE SPRING OF 1830, DARWIN'S A RIPE OLD 21 YEARS OLD,
SPENDING MORE AND MORE TIME WITH HENSLOW,
AND HE DECIDES TO BECOME A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN.
WHY?
BECAUSE YOU ONLY WORK ONE DAY A WEEK,
AND YOU GET TO SPEND THE REST OF THE WEEK DOING SHAKESPEARE,
HAVING PARTIES, CATCHING RATS, AND SMOKING CIGARS WITH YOUR BUDDIES.
IT'S A WIN-WIN.
HE DECIDES, "THIS IS WHAT I WANT TO DO."
AND HIS FATHER'S EXCITED
THAT HE'S FINALLY FOUND SOMETHING HE WANTS TO DO,
ALTHOUGH NOT FOR THE MERITORIOUS REASONS HIS FATHER MIGHT HAVE HOPED HE WOULD.
SO, HE DECIDES, "I'M GOING TO FINISH THIS DEGREE AT CAMBRIDGE."
AND HE DOES.
HE FINISHES IT, AND HE FINISHES TEN OUT OF 178, WHICH IS PRETTY GOOD.
HIS LOWEST SCORES WERE IN ASTRONOMY.
HIS LOWEST SCORES WERE IN SCIENCE.
HIS HIGHEST SCORES WERE IN THEOLOGY, PHILOSOPHY, AND PALEY,
WHICH WAS MANDATORY STUDY BACK THEN.
SO, HE DIDN'T, YOU KNOW, CHEAT ON THE THEOLOGY--
HE DID VERY, VERY WELL ON THAT.
SO, HERE'S A MAN WHO GOES TO CHANGE THE WORLD IN SCIENCE,
WHO HAD A THEOLOGY DEGREE.
NOW, WHAT HAPPENS IN THE SPRING OF 1831?
HE'S 22 YEARS OLD.
HE REFERRED TO THIS LATER ON AS HIS "SUMMER OF READING."
HE HAD GRADUATED, HE RE-READS PALEY'S "NATURAL THEOLOGY,"
WHICH WAS THE GOLD STANDARD.
REMEMBER, THIS IS THE ROOM THAT HE ROOMED IN-- PALEY'S ROOM.
THE GOLD STANDARD FOR BASICALLY HOW LIFE CAME TO BE ON THE PLANET.
HE READ HERSCHEL'S "PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE ON THE STUDY OF NATURAL PHILOSOPHY."
BACK THEN, THAT WOULD-- NOW, WE'D CALL IT "NATURAL HISTORY."
THIS WAS HIS TRAINING HIMSELF ON THE STUDY OF NATURE.
HE READ VON HUMBOLDT'S SEVEN VOLUME SET
OF THE PERSONAL ADVENTURES OF SOUTH AMERICA.
AND THIS WAS, AGAIN, A WAY TO JUST THINK--
NOW REMEMBER, NO VISION OF WHAT A JUNGLE WOULD LOOK LIKE THAT WE ALL HAVE.
HE'S READING THESE NARRATIVES--
SO MANY OF THESE NARRATIVES BACK THEN WERE WRITTEN
IN KIND OF LIKE A "NATURALIST AT LARGE" KIND OF NARRATIVE.
AND HE WAS JUST GETTING SO EXCITED ABOUT GETTING OUT OF ENGLAND
AND DOING SOMETHING.
AND THEN, HENSLOW SUGGESTED TO DARWIN, "WELL, WHY DON'T YOU DO THAT?
"WHY DON'T YOU VISIT THE TROPICS?"
BUT I'M SURE DARWIN'S FATHER WAS JUST EXCITED TO HAVE HENSLOW SAY,
"THE KID'S GRADUATED, HE'S EMPLOYABLE, LET'S GET HIM OUT OF MY HAIR,"
AND HENSLOW'S GOING, "HEY, WHY DON'T YOU DO THE TROPICS?"
SO, ENTER THE VOYAGE OF THE H.M.S. BEAGLE.
CAPTAIN ROBERT FITZROY, WHO MANY ARE FAMILIAR WITH,
WAS THE CAPTAIN OF THE H.M.S. BEAGLE.
HE WAS IN NEED OF WHAT'S CALLED A "GENTLEMAN NATURALIST."
NOW, THIS WAS A MILITARY EXPEDITION.
THIS WAS THE NAVAL CHARTING EXPEDITION, UNDERSTAND.
AND SO, BACK IN THAT TIME PERIOD, IT WAS VERY REGIMENTED NAVEL DECORUM.
THE CAPTAIN COULD SPEAK TO THE OFFICERS ON MATTERS OF RUNNING THE SHIP.
THE OFFICERS COULD SPEAK TO THE, YOU KNOW,
THE SEAMEN ON MATTERS RUNNING THE BOAT.
THE CAPTAIN'S NOT ALLOWED TO SOCIALIZE, PERSONALLY, WITH ANYBODY.
AND YOU'RE ON A SHIP, BY YOURSELF, IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN,
AND MANY CAPTAINS, INCLUDING THE PREVIOUS CAPTAIN OF THE H.M.S. BEAGLE,
COMMITTED SUICIDE.
IT WAS A COMMON THING,
'CAUSE BASICALLY, EVERYBODY HATES YOU... (laughing)
ON BOAT, AND YOU'RE IN A SMALL BOAT.
AND SO, THE BRITISH NAVY THOUGHT,
"WELL, MAYBE WE SHOULD LET YOU TAKE WHAT WAS CALLED 'CAPTAIN'S COMPANION,'"
THAT HAS DIFFERENT CONNOTATIONS NOWADAYS, BUT BACK THEN--
(audience laughing)
A CAPTAIN'S COMPANION WAS A NON-MILITARY PERSON
YOU COULD TAKE AND YOU COULD SIT DOWN AND HAVE DINNER WITH
AND YOU COULD SOCIALIZE AND YOU COULD SAY, "HEY, HOW 'BOUT THOSE DODGERS?"
OKAY?
SO, THAT WAS THE CAPACITY THAT DARWIN WENT IN,
BUT FITZROY ALSO WANTED TO HAVE THIS CAPTAIN'S COMPANION BE A NATURALIST.
SO, HE RECRUITED-- HE ACTUALLY GOT A HOLD OF HENSLOW,
THROUGH A VARIETY OF INTERMEDIARIES AND SAID-- REMEMBER HENSLOW?
OUR BOTANIST, AGAIN.
AND SAID, "DO YOU KNOW ANYBODY WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED?"
HENSLOW IMMEDIATELY THOUGHT OF DARWIN.
CONTACTED DARWIN AND SAID, "CHARLES, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?"
CHARLES SAID, "MY GOD, I WANT TO DO THIS."
WENT HOME AND TOLD US FATHER, "DAD, SORRY ABOUT THE MEDICAL SCHOOL THING."
(audience laughing)
"AND YEAH, I KNOW YOU SENT ME TO CAMBRIDGE,
"AND YEAH, I'VE BEEN MEANING TO BE A COUNTRY CLERGYMAN...
"BUT I'VE GOT THIS GIG GOING TO THE TROPICS IN THIS LITTLE BOAT.
"IT'S GOING FOR THREE YEARS.
"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" (audience laughing)
AND HE SAID, "THIS IS BASICALLY INSANE, CHARLES.
"NO."
PLUS, YOU HAD TO PAY FOR IT.
HE WASN'T-- CHARLES WASN'T GETTING PAID.
YOU ACTUALLY HAD TO PAY YOUR OWN WAY TO GO ON THIS VOYAGE.
SO, HIS FATHER SAID, "NO WAY.
"THAT'S ABSOLUTELY INANE.
"IN FACT, IT'S SO INANE,
"I DOUBT THAT YOU COULD FIND A SINGLE PERSON, BESIDES HENSLOW,
"THAT THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA."
AND HE SAID, "IF YOU CAN FIND A SINGLE PERSON
"TO SHOW ME THAT THIS IS A GOOD IDEA--
"SHOW ME A MAN OF COMMON SENSE WHO THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA."
PRETTY MUCH THE ONLY MAN THAT DARWIN'S FATHER RESPECTED
WAS DARWIN'S UNCLE, WEDGWOOD.
JOSIAH WEDGWOOD ENTERTAINED DARWIN
AND SAID, "TELL ME WHY YOU SHOULD DO THIS."
AND HE WAS CONVINCED.
HE WENT TO DARWIN'S FATHER
AND SAID, "YOU REALLY NEED TO LET THE BOY DO THIS."
AND SO RELUCTANTLY, HIS FATHER SAID, "OKAY.
"IT'LL GET HIM OUT THE HOUSE FOR HOW LONG?
"THREE YEARS?
"HE'S SOMEONE ELSE'S PROBLEM?
"OKAY, YEAH, GO."
OKAY, SO HE AGREED TO DO THIS.
SO, DARWIN IMMEDIATELY GOES TO FITZROY AND HE SAYS, "I'LL TAKE IT."
FITZROY HAD ALREADY OFFERED IT TO SOMEONE ELSE.
HACKLES DOWN, TAIL BETWEEN LEGS-- DARWIN THINKS, "OH, GOD.
"THIS IS IT-- I'VE MISSED MY OPPORTUNITY."
THE OTHER PERSON BEGS OUT-- DARWIN GETS IT BY DEFAULT.
OKAY?
SO, HE WINDS UP ON THE H.M.S. BEAGLE.
NOW, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THE BEAGLE IS LIKE.
THIS IS A 90 FOOT LONG WOODEN FRIGATE CLASS SHIP,
WHICH, AT THE TIME, WERE CALLED "FLOATING COFFINS"
BECAUSE THEY WERE SO UNSTABLE.
AND THAT'S WHY FITZROY WANTED (indistinct)--
IF THEY LOST IT, THEY LOST IT.
NINETY FEET LONG, 74 MEN-- MEN, MEN, MEN--
(audience laughing) OKAY.
SEVENTY-FOUR MEN, 90 FEET-- TO GIVE YOU AN IDEA,
THAT'S FROM THE BACK WALL TO ABOUT RIGHT HERE, OKAY?
I DON'T THINK WE HAVE 74 PEOPLE IN HERE, BUT IMAGINE THAT 24 FEET WIDE.
HIS CABIN WAS EIGHT FEET BY 11 FEET--
OH, THAT'S PRETTY BIG,
EXCEPT IT WAS A FIVE FOOT CEILING, HE WAS SIX FOOT TALL,
AND THERE'S A FOUR BY SIX CHART TABLE IN THE MIDDLE
AND STORAGE ALL THE WAY ON THE SIDE.
HE HAD SEVEN AND A HALF FEET OF OPEN SPACE TO LIVE
FOR ALMOST FIVE YEARS.
HE CALLED IT "90 FEET OF UNRELENTING EVIL," OKAY?
(audience laughing)
AND THIS WAS GOING TO BE HIS "HOME AWAY FROM HOME."
SO, THEY LEAVE PORTSMOUTH ON JANUARY 1832...
AND DARWIN-- HERE, LET US GO BACK-- IS 22 YEARS OLD.
WE ALWAYS ENVISION DARWIN AS THIS GERIATRIC MAN.
HE WAS 22 WHEN HE DID THIS.
THEY WIND UP IN CAPE VERDE.
HERE'S A PICTURE OF CAPE VERDE.
WHY IS THAT SIGNIFICANT?
'CAUSE DARWIN WINDS UP AT CAPE VERDE,
AND YOU CAN SEE THESE WHITE CLIFFS RIGHT HERE.
THAT'S NOT THE OCEAN.
THOSE ARE WHITE CLIFFS.
THESE ARE FOSSIL BEDS THAT EXTEND 45 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL.
SO WHAT-- WHO CARES?
IT WAS COMMON SENSE, BACK THEN, IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY...
WAS THE EARTH WAS NOT A DYNAMIC SPHERE.
IT WAS STATIC.
NOTHING CHANGED.
WHAT WE SEE TODAY, IS AS IF IT WAS DURING THE ORIGINAL CREATION.
AND HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN MARINE FOSSILS 45 FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL?
EITHER SEA LEVEL DROPPED OR THE LAND ROSE.
WE KNOW-- WE UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS TODAY.
BUT IMAGINE US BACK IN THE 1800s.
VERY DIFFICULT TO EXPLAIN THROUGH THAT VICTORIAN LENS OF SCIENCE.
AND THIS IS WHERE DARWIN BEGAN TO QUESTION.
SO MANY PEOPLE LEAVE--
WHEN YOU WATCH THE "FIN, FUR, AND FEATHER" FLICKS ON TV--
DISCOVERY, P.B.S., ETCETERA--
YOU THINK THAT DARWIN SAT THERE PASSIVELY FOR FOUR AND A HALF YEARS
IN A BOAT UNTIL THEY GOT TO THE GALAPAGOS
AND THEN, POOF, IT ALL HAPPENED?
NO.
THE GALAPAGOS WAS JUST THE ICING ON THE CAKE.
THE DEVELOPMENT HAPPENED WAY BEFORE THAT,
BEGINNING RIGHT HERE IN CAPE VERDE.
BUT THEN, THEY WIND UP AT SALVADOR IN SOUTH AMERICA.
WHEN THEY GET TO SALVADOR,
WE HAVE STORIES HERE OF SEASHELLS, SLAVES, AND SURGEONS.
IN SALVADOR, DARWIN DECIDES THAT,
"I HATE THIS UNRELENTING EVIL OF THE BEAGLE."
HE WAS VIOLENTLY SEASICK...
FOR FIVE YEARS, RIGHT?
YOU CAN'T GET OFF.
IMAGINE BEING SEASICK FOR-- SEASICK FOR ONE HOUR, SHOOT ME HERE, OKAY?
(audience laughing) IMAGINE FOR FIVE YEARS.
SO, ANY TIME HE COULD GET OFF THE BOAT, THEY WOULD DO IT.
FITZROY WANTED TO GO BACK UP TO THE COAST OF BRAZIL
AND RE-CHART AN AREA, AND DARWIN SAYS, "DO WE REALLY HAVE TO?"
THEY ACTUALLY GOT IN AN ARGUMENT.
AND FITZROY BASICALLY SAID, "YOU CAN STAY HERE, HIKE ACROSS THE ANDES"--
I'M MAKING THIS UP JUST A LITTLE BIT--
"YOU CAN STAY HERE OR GO BACK WITH US."
HE SAYS, "I'LL STAY."
DARWIN GETS ON A HORSEBACK WITH SOME GUIDES
AND TRAVELS 400 MILES INLAND.
THIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST SEMINAL EVENTS IN HIS CHANGE OF THOUGHT.
AS HE'S GOING THROUGH FROM HABITAT TO HABITAT,
HE'S COLLECTING BEETLES.
HE STARTED COLLECTING BEETLES BACK IN ENGLAND.
AND HE'S WONDERING, "WHY IN THIS HABITAT DO I FIND THIS TYPE OF BEETLE?
"WHY IN THIS HABITAT DO I FIND THIS BEETLE?
"WHY IN THIS HABITAT"-- AND ALL THE WAY UP THE ANDES, BEETLE AFTER BEETLE,
AND HE HAD BURROW AFTER BURROW OF SPECIMENS HE WAS COLLECTING.
THE QUESTION IS, "IF, IN FACT, GOD HAD CREATED BEETLES TO DO AS BEETLES DO,
"WOULDN'T ONE BEETLE BE SUFFICIENT FOR ALL THAT BEETLES DO?"
(audience laughing)
IT DOES BEG THE QUESTION, RIGHT, DOESN'T IT?
I MEAN, WHY SO MANY SPECIES?
GOING, "THERE SHOULD BE A REASON."
AND HE BEGAN TO ASK.
HE GOT UP TO THE ANDES-- ABOUT HALFWAY UP--
AND HE ALSO FOUND ANOTHER BED OF MARINE FOSSILS.
HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT MARINE FOSSILS,
NOW, CAN BE A COUPLE THOUSAND FEET ABOVE SEA LEVEL?
THE QUESTION MARKS, THE QUESTION MARKS IN HIS BRAIN,
WONDERING, "HOW CAN THIS BE SO?"
HE RETURNS TO THE BOAT IN SALVADOR,
AND WHILE HE WAS ON THE MAINLAND THERE,
HE SAW HOW THE BLACK SLAVES WERE MISTREATED.
THEY WERE BEATEN, THEY WERE SHOT, THEY WERE TORTURED...
AND HE SAW THIS SO APPALLING, 'CAUSE REMEMBER,
HE LEARNED TO LOVE JOHN EDMONSTONE AS A HUMAN BEING, A BLACK MAN.
AND HE CAME BACK AND SHARED WITH FITZROY WHAT HE HAD SEEN
AND HOW THE SLAVES WERE BEING TREATED, AND FITZROY-- CLASSICALLY VICTORIAN--
THOUGHT, "WELL, YES, BUT THESE ARE BLACK SLAVES."
AND DARWIN SAID, "THESE ARE HUMANS.
"THESE ARE PEOPLE JUST LIKE US."
THE TWO OF THEM HAD SUCH AN ARGUMENT
THAT FITZROY FOREBODE DARWIN TO EVER ENTER HIS CABIN
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TRIP.
THIS WAS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT.
NOW, LATER, THEY MADE NICE-NICE, A COUPLE WEEKS LATER,
BUT THAT WAS A PRETTY SERIOUS CHASM.
THEY GET DOWN TO RIO DE JANEIRO.
DARWIN MAKES 150 MILE HIKE, THIS TIME, INLAND
BECAUSE FITZROY WANTED TO MAKE A LITTLE CHART GOING BACK UP THE COAST.
HE WAS "TYPE A"-- HE WANTED TO DO EVERYTHING TWICE.
SO, DARWIN GOES, "RATHER THAN VOMITING, I'LL HIKE 150 MILES."
AND NOW, THIS IS IMPORTANT, 'CAUSE WHEN HE GETS UP THERE,
HE, YET AGAIN, FINDS MORE FOSSILS,
MORE QUESTIONS THAT HE'D NEVER HAD BEFORE, BACK IN ENGLAND.
LOOKING AT DIVERSITY OF ANIMALS, DIVERSITY OF HABITATS--
AGAIN, "WOULDN'T ONE TREE SUFFICE FOR WHAT TREES HAVE TO DO?
"WHY THE DIVERSITY I'M SEEING?"
WHEN HE GETS BACK TO THE BOAT,
HE FINDS OUT THAT THE SHIP'S SURGEON, ROBERT McCORMICK,
HAD QUIT HIS POST AS SHIP SURGEON.
'CAUSE BACK THEN, REMEMBER, THE SURGEONS WERE ALSO THE NATURALISTS.
McCORMICK FELT OVERSHADOWED BY DARWIN,
'CAUSE DARWIN'S CLEARLY STEALING THE LIMELIGHT
AND WAS USURPING HIS ROLE AS NATURALIST.
SO, McCORMICK SAID, "I QUIT.
"I'M GOING BACK TO ENGLAND."
THE REMAINING THREE AND A HALF YEARS, THERE WAS NO SURGEON ON THE SHIP.
SO, DARWIN'S TALENT WAS EITHER BEING RECOGNIZED,
FOR THE GOOD OR THE BAD.
THEN, DARWIN WINDS UP DOWN HERE IN 1883 AT MONTEVIDEO.
THIS IS REALLY SIGNIFICANT.
HE GOES OVER LAND NOW-- THIS TIME, 300 MILES.
AGAIN, MORE THAN 3O0 MILES ON HORSEBACK.
BUT HE'S GOING THROUGH THE PANTANAL OF PARAGUAY, URUGUAY.
AND HE SEEN THE NATIVE INDIANS IN THAT AREA--
NOT BLACKS THIS TIME, BUT THE NATIVE INDIANS,
WHICH ARE BEING SLAUGHTERED
BY THIS GENTLEMAN RIGHT HERE, GENERAL DE ROSAS,
WHO WAS TRYING TO RECLAIM THE TERRITORIES OF URUGUAY AND PARAGUAY
FOR ARGENTINA BY WHOLESALE SLAUGHTER OF THE PARAGUAY AND URUGUAY INDIANS.
THIS UPSET DARWIN, AS DID THE MISTREATMENT OF SLAVES BACK IN--
UH, BACK IN BRAZIL.
AND HE WONDERS, "HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?
"WHY ARE WE TREATING THESE PEOPLE IN THIS MANNER?
"AND AGAIN, WHY ARE THESE PEOPLE DIFFERENT?
"IN ENGLAND, YOU DON'T SEE THESE INDIANS.
"IN ENGLAND, YOU DON'T SEE BLACKS."
HE WAS INTRODUCED TO ASIANS, WHEN HE--
"WHY, AGAIN, NOW, THIS DIVERSITY IN HUMANS
"THAT I HAVEN'T ENCOUNTERED REALLY BEFORE?"
BUT IN ADDITION TO THAT, WHILE HE'S THERE, HE FINDS A FOSSIL OF A SLOTH.
A SLOTH, THIS TIME BELOW MARINE FOSSILS UP IN THE MOUNTAINS.
AND HE DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A SLOTH AT THE TIME--
NO SUCH ANIMALS WERE KNOWN.
REMEMBER, DINOSAURS WERE UNKNOWN IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND.
THEY DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT T-REXES AND BRONTOSAURUS--
THEY HADN'T BEEN DISCOVERED YET.
SO, IMAGINE WHEN YOU FIND A SLOTH SKULL THIS BIG AND GO, "OH, BOY."
(audience laughing) OKAY, WHAT'S IT-- HAD NO IDEA.
BUT IT BEGS THE QUESTION, "HOW CAN THIS ORGANISM POSSIBLY EXIST
"AND HOW CAN IT BE FOUND BELOW MARINE FOSSILS?"
DIDN'T MAKE ANY SENSE IN THE LENS OF VICTORIAN SCIENCE.
AS HE RETURNS TO THE BEACH, HE FINDS A SKULL OF THIS GUY RIGHT HERE,
WHICH IS A PREHISTORIC HIPPO.
AGAIN, A MASSIVE SKULL.
UNKNOWN TO SCIENCE.
DARWIN'S ASKING QUESTIONS, "WHY AREN'T THEY IN ENGLAND?
"HOW COME WE'VE NEVER FOUND THESE IN EUROPE?
"AND WHY ARE THESE DIFFERENT THAN ANY ORGANISM WE'VE EVER SEEN?"
NONE OF THESE WERE IN THE MUSEUM BECAUSE THEY WERE UNKNOWN TO SCIENCE.
IT BEGS THE QUESTION, "HOW TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS DIVERSITY?"
DARWIN, THEN, WINDS UP AROUND THE HORN
AND WINDS UP AT A LITTLE PUEBLO HERE CALLED VALDIVIA.
AND...
AND VALDIVIA IS ONE OF THE ROCKINGEST ROLLING PLACES ON THE PLANET.
IN FEBRUARY 1835, HE EXPERIENCES AN EARTHQUAKE THERE.
A SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKE.
THE PHOTOGRAPH HERE IS NOT FROM THEM.
THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH FROM 1960,
WHERE VALDIVIA HAD WHAT WE BELIEVE TO BE THE LARGEST EARTHQUAKE EVER FELT.
IT ESTIMATED-- THERE WERE NO RICHTER SCALES IN 1960--
AT A 9.5.
THAT'S SIGNIFICANT.
AND WHEN DARWIN WAS THERE,
NO EUROPEAN HAD EXPERIENCED AN EARTHQUAKE BEFORE.
I AM FROM CALIFORNIA-- I GO, "AW, COME ON.
"YOUR MOMMA-- EVERYBODY'S HAD EARTHQUAKES.
"I GREW UP WITH THEM.
"I WAS BORN DURING AN EARTHQUAKE." (audience laughing)
ENGLAND DOESN'T HAVE EARTHQUAKES.
BACK-- WHEN HE WENT BACK, HE WAS A HERO.
HE WAS A ROCKSTAR, 'CAUSE HERE WAS THIS SCIENTIST THAT HAD EXPERIENCE...
IN EARTHQUAKE.
BUT HERE'S WHAT'S IMPORTANT-- DURING THIS EARTHQUAKE,
A PORTION OF THE REEF CAME UP MORE THAN SIX FEET ABOVE THE WATER.
OOOH.
HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?
THE GEOLOGIST AT THE TIME, LYELL,
HAD SAID THAT THE EARTH IS A RELATIVELY STATIC ENVIRONMENT.
THERE ARE SLOW CHANGES OVER TIME, BUT NOTHING AS SIGNIFICANT AS THIS.
DARWIN THINKS, "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THE SEABED
"AND MOST LIKELY THE CORRESPONDING MOUNTAINS
"COULD RAISE SIX FEET IN ONE EVENT?"
HE STARTING TO THINK, "THIS MIGHT EXPLAIN THE SEASHELLS I SAW IN THE ANDES.
"THIS MIGHT EXPLAIN THE HIPPO"-- OH, EXCUSE ME--
"THE SLOTH FOSSILS BELOW."
IN SOME OF THE MANY THINGS HE'S SEEN,
THIS COULD ACCOUNT FOR THIS CHANGE IN FOSSIL BEDDING.
HE GETS UP TO SANTIAGO, AND THEN, TAKES ANOTHER LITTLE ADVENTURE
ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE ANDES,
COLLECTING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BEETLES, COMPLETELY DIFFERENT BIRDS.
AGAIN, "HOW IS IT POSSIBLE THAT ON THIS SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN RANGE,
"EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT AGAIN?"
DO YOU SEE WHAT'S GOING THROUGH THIS YOUNG MAN'S MIND?
WONDERING, "THIS IS NOT WHAT I WAS LED TO BELIEVE.
"EVERYTHING IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT."
QUESTIONING THAT AUTHORITY, THAT DOGMA,
THAT DOCTRINE THAT HE WAS TAUGHT BEFORE.
IN 1834, HE FINALLY RECEIVES, AFTER TWO YEARS AT SEA,
A LETTER FROM HENSLOW.
FOR TWO YEARS-- AND THIS IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND--
DARWIN HAD BEEN SENDING BACK SPECIMENS TO ENGLAND.
EVERY TIME AN ENGLISH SHIP WOULD COME BY,
BOXES AND CARTONS OF SPECIMENS WOULD GO BACK TO ENGLAND.
REMEMBER, IT'S NOT U.P.S.-- IT DOESN'T GET THERE OVERNIGHT.
SOMETIMES, THESE THINGS WERE IN TRANSIT FOR SIX MONTHS TO A YEAR.
NEVER HEARD ANYTHING BACK FROM HENSLOW.
DARWIN IS CONFIDENT THAT HE'S THE LAUGHING STOCK
OF VICTORIAN SCIENCE,
AND NOTHING HE HAD DONE WAS NEW.
HE WAS CONVINCED EVERYTHING HE WAS DISCOVERING WAS NEW,
WHICH, OF COURSE, IT WAS.
BUT THERE WAS NO REPORT BACK FROM ENGLAND.
AND THEN, FINALLY, WORD ARRIVES TWO YEARS LATER
IN SANTIAGO FROM HENSLOW,
BASICALLY SAYING, "THE SPECIMENS YOU HAVE SENT BACK
"ARE THE TALK OF WESTERN EUROPE."
BASICALLY, "YOUR NAME IS ON EVERYBODY'S TONGUE.
"NOBODY CAN WAIT UNTIL YOU GET BACK.
"YOU NEED TO CONTINUE WHAT YOU'RE DOING."
VINDICATION FOR THIS SLOW, "IDLE BOY" THAT WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS CORRECT.
HE ARRIVES IN THE GALAPAGOS, AT 26 YEARS OLD.
AND WE ALL HAVE THIS IDEA THAT DARWIN SPENT, WHAT, A YEAR THERE?
TWO YEARS?
JUST UNDER FIVE WEEKS.
AND YOU SAY, "WELL, HOW COULD HE ACCOMPLISH ALL THAT?"
REMEMBER, THIS WAS THE ICING ON THE CAKE.
HE HAD BEEN ALREADY AT SEA FOR SEVERAL YEARS,
HAD BEEN COLLECTING SPECIMENS THROUGH SOUTH AMERICA.
THE GALAPAGOS-- IMPORTANT?
OH, ABSOLUTELY.
BUT ESSENTIAL FOR HIM DEVELOPING, PROBABLY, HIS THEORY OVER TIME?
NO, NOT LIKELY, FIN, FUR, AND FEATHER FLICKS ACTUALLY BELIEVE.
THE GALAPAGOS WAS AN IMPORTANT ASPECT OF HIS DISCOVERIES,
BUT IT CERTAINLY WASN'T THE HINGE PIN.
HE ARRIVES BACK IN ENGLAND IN 1836.
WHAT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, LIKE, THE S.S. MINNOW-- "A THREE HOUR TOUR"--
WAS SUPPOSED TO BE "A THREE YEAR TOUR."
WOUND UP TO BE FIVE YEARS.
FIVE YEARS, HE GET'S BACK.
LOOK AT THIS, HE'S A WHOPPING 27 YEARS OLD.
HE ARRIVES BACK WITH 1,500 ANIMALS ONBOARD,
4,000 OTHER SPECIMENS ONBOARD,
AND HE'D BEEN SHIPPING SPECIMENS BACK FOR FIVE YEARS.
LITERALLY, THE WAREHOUSES AND UNIVERSITIES IN EUROPE
WERE FULL OF SPECIMENS SENT BACK FROM THE BEAGLE.
DARWIN CAME BACK THINKING,
"A COUPLE PEOPLE IN ACADEMIC CIRCUITS MAY KNOW ME."
BUT HE WAS A ROCKSTAR WHEN HE GOT BACK.
NOW, THAT THEN TAKES US TO THE LONG ROAD TO "THE ORIGIN."
"CHARLES, WHY DID IT TAKE YOU 23 YEARS TO PUT THIS INTO CONTEXT?"
OKAY, A.D.D.?
POSSIBLY. (audience laughing)
OKAY, BUT 23 YEARS-- "WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG?"
WELL, HE RETURNS--
REMEMBER, OUR "IDLE BOY" AND OUR "IDLE MAN"
WHO LEFT AT 22 YEARS OLD?
HE NOW COMES BACK, A TRIUMPHANT RETURN.
HE GETS BACK-- AND UNANNOUNCED-- BACK INTO PORTSMOUTH,
SHOWS UP HOME IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND EVERYBODY'S ASLEEP.
HE GOES TO BED.
HE GETS UP IN THE MORNING,
THE WHOLE FAMILY'S DOWNSTAIRS HAVING BREAKFAST,
AND CHARLES WALKS IN, UNANNOUNCED.
(audience laughing) YOU CAN IMAGINE.
AND THEY SAID-- THE EXCITEMENT--
EVEN SOME OF THE SERVANTS BECAME DRUNK, REPORTEDLY,
AFTERWARDS, BECAUSE HE WAS THE ROCKSTAR,
HE WAS BACK, AND WHAT A SURPRISE.
MANY PEOPLE DIDN'T RETURN FROM THESE TYPES OF VOYAGES.
SO, NOW, WE HAVE A PROBLEM.
FIVE YEARS OF SPECIMENS, WHO'S GONNA WORK THEM UP?
HENSLOW, AGAIN, ARRANGES FOR THIS,
TAKES ALL THE LEADING GEOLOGISTS, SCIENTISTS, IN EUROPE,
AND SAYS, "WE HAVE MORE SPECIMENS THAN WE KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH.
"WE NEED HELP."
AND EVERYBODY WHO HAD THE TIME, WHO WANTED TO DO THIS--
MANY PEOPLE HAD TO HAVE THEIR ARMS TURNED,
'CAUSE THEY HAD THEIR OWN RESEARCH PROJECTS.
BUT THIS GENTLEMAN RIGHT HERE, JOHN GOULD, BECAME VERY IMPORTANT.
DARWIN, AS MANY OF YOU MAY KNOW, COLLECTED ALL HIS--
THE FAMOUS "DARWIN'S FINCHES" FROM THE GALAPAGOS ISLANDS.
HE WAS COLLECTING SO MANY SPECIMENS AT THAT POINT,
HE GOT PRETTY CARELESS THERE, TOWARDS THE END,
AND HE COLLECTED THESE BIRDS--
DEPENDING ON HOW YOU COUNT, 12, 13 SPECIES OF WHAT WE NOW KNOW TO BE FINCHES
FROM THE GALAPAGOS-- (chuckling) LITTLE PROBLEM.
HE DIDN'T RECORD WHAT ISLANDS THEY CAME FROM.
(audience laughing)
AND IN SCIENCE, WE KNOW THAT SPECIMENS WITHOUT DATA
ARE BASICALLY NO SPECIMENS AT ALL.
SO, HE BROUGHT THESE BIRDS BACK, AND HE THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE ALL--
THAT THEY WERE WRENS, THEY WERE FINCHES, THERE WERE GROSBEAKS.
AND SO, HENSLOW ARRANGED FOR JOHN GOULD, FAMOUS ORNITHOLOGIST,
TO TRY TO WORK THROUGH THESE SPECIMENS AND MAKE SENSE OUT OF 'EM.
JOHN GOULD ANNOUNCED THAT,
"DARWIN, THESE AREN'T THREE, FOUR, FIVE DIFFERENT TYPES OF BIRDS.
"THEY'RE ALL FINCHES."
"YES, BUT HOW CAN THEY ALL BE FINCHES?
"LOOK AT THE DIVERSITY OF THE BEAKS."
AGAIN, WOULDN'T ONE FINCH TYPE BE SUFFICIENT
FOR WHAT IT IS THAT FINCHES DO?
THERE HAS TO BE A REASON FOR THIS DIVERSITY IN THE FINCHES.
AND THIS IS YET ANOTHER THING THAT PUZZLED DARWIN.
INTERESTING-- LATER ON--
IS IT CAPTAIN FITZROY, WHO WAS THE CAPTAIN OF--
THERE'S SO MANY STORIES HERE.
I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS DOING THIS.
BUT THERE'S SO MANY STORIES.
FITZROY EVENTUALLY COMMITTED SUICIDE, LATER IN LIFE,
BECAUSE HE WAS SURE THAT HE HAD TAKEN ON THIS VOYAGE, "SATAN'S SPAWN"--
MY WORD, NOT HIS, OKAY? (audience laughing)
A MAN-- AGAIN, MY WORDS, NOT HIS--
BUT HE WAS A MAN OF VERY, VERY FIRM CHRISTIAN FAITH-- ANGLICAN FAITH.
AND HE HAD LENT TO DARWIN, FOR THE VOYAGE,
CHARLES LYELL'S "PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY,"
WHICH WE'LL TALK ABOUT HERE IN A SECOND.
AND WHEN DARWIN GOT BACK AND WAS SOLICITING INFORMATION
ON WHICH ISLANDS THE BIRDS CAME FROM,
GUESS WHO THE ONLY PERSON ON THE BOAT WAS
THAT LABELED THE BIRDS AND ALL THE ISLANDS?
FITZROY.
FITZROY GAVE HIM HIS COLLECTIONS
AND, LATER ON, SAID, "THIS IS ONE OF THE GREATEST MISTAKES OF MY LIFE,"
BECAUSE HE FEELS THAT HE HAD GIVEN, YOU KNOW,
IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO DARWIN THAT, OTHERWISE,
HE WOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO MAINTAIN HIS THEORY.
SO, WHEN HE GETS BACK, HENSLOW, AGAIN, SAYS,
"CHARLES, YOU'VE READ THIS BOOK WHILE YOU WERE GONE."
THIS BOOK RIGHT HERE, FOLKS, "THE PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY,"
THREE VOLUME SET.
"THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES," CONSIDERED, WITHOUT A DOUBT,
TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK EVER WRITTEN IN SCIENCE.
NUMBER TWO, "PRINCIPLES OF GEOLOGY."
DARWIN READ THIS VEHEMENTLY DURING THE TRIP.
ONE OF THE CURRENT PRINCIPLES HERE IN LYELL'S BOOK IS-- LOOK AT THIS--
"FORCES MOLDING THE PLANET TODAY"--
WHAT WE SEE HAPPENING ON THE PLANET TODAY--
"HAVE OPERATED THROUGHOUT HISTORY."
WHAT WE SEE TODAY IS, CLEARLY, WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING OVER GEOLOGIC TIME.
"CHANGES TAKE PLACE SLOWLY"-- INSERT HERE, "GRADUALISM"--
"ACCORDING TO KNOWN, NATURAL LAW.
"THE PRESENT IS THE KEY TO THE PAST."
TAKE THAT PASSAGE THERE OUT OF THE CONTEXT OF GEOLOGY,
AND MAKE THAT BIOLOGICAL.
THIS BECOMES THE STEPPING STONE FOR "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."
AND WHO LENT DARWIN THIS BOOK SET?
(audience laughing) FITZROY.
SO, ON THE WAY BACK, THEN, YOU KNOW, HE SAID--
HENSLOW SAYS, "YOU KNOW, I'VE MADE ARRANGEMENTS
"FOR YOU TO SEE CHARLES LYELL."
WHICH, OF COURSE, IS LIKE, YOU KNOW, MEETING-- I DON'T KNOW-- JUSTIN BIEBER.
OKAY, SO-- (audience laughing)
SOMETHING OF EQUAL IMPORTANCE, YOU KNOW?
AND SO, THEY HAD A CHANCE TO TALK.
OF COURSE, LYELL HAD NEVER, YOU KNOW, EXPERIENCED AN EARTHQUAKE.
SO, HE GIVES A SPEECH, THEN-- HE'S 28 YEARS OLD--
HE GIVES HIS FIRST SCIENTIFIC SPEECH.
NERVOUS, COULD BARELY SPEAK.
HE WAS JUST-- ONCE AGAIN, HE WAS A VERY TIMID, INTROVERTED MAN.
AND SO, IN HIS SPEECH, HE TALKED--
IT WAS TITLED, "THE RISE OF SOUTH AMERICA."
HE STATED THAT ANIMALS ADAPTED TO THIS CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENT.
LYELL HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
LYELL SAID THAT ANIMALS DO NOT CHANGE WITH CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENTS.
ANIMALS WERE DONE-- ER, PRODUCED BY THE CREATOR AND THEY DO NOT CHANGE.
LYELL HAD A PROBLEM WITH THAT.
CONTRARY TO LYELL, YOU KNOW, THESE SPECIES, AGAIN--
LYELL JUST STATED THAT THEY DO NOT ADAPT.
DARWIN SAID, "CLEARLY, THEY ADAPT."
REMEMBER ALL THE FINCHES?
REMEMBER ALL THE BEETLES?
WHY ARE THERE SO MANY DIFFERENT SPECIES?
IT HAS TO REPRESENT ADAPTATION TO THE ENVIRONMENT.
LYELL WAS A LITTLE UPSET BY THAT.
AGAIN, A MAN OF FIRM ANGLICAN FAITH.
DARWIN BEGINS TO QUESTION, NOW, DIVINE CREATION, IN GENERAL, OF SPECIES...
AND PALEY'S ARGUMENT FOR DESIGN.
REMEMBER THE DORM ROOM HE LIVED IN?
PALEY, AGAIN, BASICALLY SAYING IN ENCAPSULATE
THAT WHAT WE SEE TODAY IN NATURE
IS WHAT THE CREATOR PRODUCED IN NATURE.
THERE HAVE BEEN NO CHANGES.
THIS WAS THE VICTORIAN VIEW OF ALL SCIENCE, AT THAT POINT.
DARWIN COMES BACK AND SAYS, "IT CAN'T BE.
"NOT FROM WHAT I'VE SEEN."
THERE HAS TO BE ANOTHER EXPLANATION.
AT 28 YEARS OLD, DARWIN PRODUCES IN HIS SERIES OF NOTEBOOKS--
HE LETTERED THEM, NOTEBOOK "A," "B," "C," "D," ETCETERA.
IN HIS FAMOUS NOTEBOOK-- THE "B" NOTEBOOK--
HE PENS, FOR THE FIRST TIME,
HIS IDEAS OF WHAT WERE CALLED "TRANSMUTATION."
TRANSMUTATION-- INSERT HERE, "EVOLUTION"--
EVOLUTION DIDN'T APPEAR, BY NAME,
UNTIL I THINK THE SIXTH EDITION OF "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."
BEFORE THAT, IT WAS CALLED "TRANSMUTATION."
DARWIN PENNED TO HIMSELF, "IS THERE EVIDENCE FOR TRANSMUTATION?"
HE HAD TO ANSWER THAT QUESTION BEFORE HE WENT FURTHER.
"HOW DO SPECIES GO ABOUT ADAPTING TO THIS CHANGE IN ENVIRONMENT?"
HE HAD TO ANSWER THAT.
"HOW DO NEW SPECIES FORM?
"HOW DO WE GET NEW SPECIES?
"WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD SPECIES?
"AND HOW CAN THE SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SPECIES BE ACCOUNTED FOR?
"NOT THEOLOGICALLY, BUT SCIENTIFICALLY."
YOU SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING HERE?
IT'S A DIFFERENT LENS THROUGH WHICH WE'RE GONNA LOOK AT THE WORLD.
THE THREE WAYS THAT WE LOOK AT THE WORLD AROUND US--
WHAT WE CALL THE "TRADITIONAL EPISTEMOLOGY"--
IS THE TRADITIONAL WAYS OF LOOKING AT THE WORLD.
ONE IS THEOLOGICALLY.
WE TRY AND EXPLAIN THINGS THROUGH DIVINE INTERVENTION.
NUMBER TWO IS PHILOSOPHICALLY.
NUMBER THREE IS SCIENTIFICALLY.
ONE ISN'T NECESSARILY BETTER THAN THE OTHER--
DEPENDS UPON THE QUESTION YOU'RE ASKING.
THEY ASK VERY DIFFERENT QUESTIONS.
THEY APPROACH KNOWLEDGE VERY DIFFERENTLY.
SCIENCE IS ENCUMBERED BY HAVING TO REFER TO NATURAL LAW
AND NOT ALLOWING ANY SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION.
THEOLOGY AND PHILOSOPHY ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENCUMBERED
BY THAT REQUIREMENT.
SO, THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE SEE A SCIENTIST LOOKING, NOW,
EXPLAINING HOW NATURE CAME TO BE, USING KNOWN SCIENTIFIC LAWS.
SOMETHING WE HADN'T SEEN BEFORE.
SO, NOT "HOW DO WE EXPLAIN NATURE THEOLOGICALLY?"
NOT "HOW DO WE EXPLAIN NATURE PHILOSOPHICALLY?"
BUT, "HOW DO WE DO IT SCIENTIFICALLY?"
FOLKS, WHAT ARE PhDS DOCTORATES OF?
>> PHILOSOPHY. >> PHILOSOPHY.
OKAY, AND THAT'S WHERE IT WAS.
SO, I DO HAVE A NOTE TO MYSELF HERE--
SO, DR. (indistinct)-- HE WOULD HAVE CORRECTED ME ON THIS.
I THINK I SAW CARL WALK IN-- I WANNA MAKE SURE I HAD THIS CORRECT HERE.
SO, IT'S THE SIXTH EDITION OF "THE ORIGIN" WHEN HE USED "EVOLUTION."
IN LATE 1837 AND '38, DARWIN HAD WHAT HE TOUTED,
LATER ON, AS A "SINCERE CONFLICT OF CONSCIENCE."
HE DISCUSSES, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME,
HIS IDEAS WITH HIS CLOSE CONFIDANT, HIS BROTHER, ERASMUS--
WHO REMEMBER, HE WAS IN MEDICAL SCHOOL WITH?
DARWIN LATER SAID THAT CONFESSING HIS VIEWS TO ERASMUS
WAS LIKE "CONFESSING A MURDER."
YOU SAY, "COME ON, HOW COULD THAT BE?"
AND LET ME SET THE VICTORIAN STAGE FOR YOU HERE.
HE WAS AFRAID TO GO PUBLIC WITH HIS IDEAS,
BECAUSE THEY WERE HERESY.
THEY WERE LITERALLY HERETICAL FIGURES-- ER, PHILOSOPHIES AND VIEWS, RATHER.
BECAUSE HE WAS AFRAID THAT HENSLOW,
WHO WAS A STRICT ANGLICAN, A DIVINE CREATIONIST,
THAT SEDGWICK, A FAMOUS GEOLOGIST AT THE TIME,
LYELL, ANOTHER PROMINENT SCIENTIST...
WOULD SCORN HIM AND NOT TALK TO HIM.
'CAUSE THESE WERE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE MAKING HIS CAREER.
HE WAS SCARED TO DEATH THAT HE WAS THE ONLY ONE--
(chuckling) AND HE WAS, PRETTY MUCH--
HAVING THESE IDEAS.
SO, HE DISCUSSES TRANSMUTATION WITH HIS FATHER
AND THEN HIS COUSIN, EMMA WEDGWOOD.
SHE IS APPALLED BY THE CONCEPT THAT HE COULD BE SO CONTEMPTUOUS
AND SO, YOU KNOW, SO HERETICAL TO SAY THAT IT WASN'T DIVINE CREATION.
WELL, THEN, HE READS AN 1838-- FOR YOU MATHEMATICIANS IN HERE--
"THE ESSAY ON THE PRINCIPLE POPULATION,"
AND FORMULATES AN IDEA OF STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
THIS IS THOMAS MALTHUS, WHO WROTE THIS, WHO WAS AN ECONOMIST,
WHO BASICALLY SAID AS ECONOMIC RESOURCES BECOME SCARCE,
THOSE WHO CAN'T OBTAIN THOSE RESOURCES WILL DIE.
WE'RE TALKING FOOD, WE'RE TALKING WATER,
WE'RE TALKING LODGING.
PUT THIS IN A BIOLOGICAL CONTEXT, AND TALK ABOUT THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.
THIS WAS THE NEXT WORK THAT CHANGED DARWIN'S VIEW OF THE WORLD.
WHY WOULDN'T THE SAME EVENTS THAT MALTHUS IS SAYING HAPPENS IN SOCIETY,
HAPPEN IN NATURE?
A THOUGHT THAT HE HAD TO DEAL WITH.
IN 1839, AT 30 YEARS OLD,
HE PUBLISHES THE MUCH-AWAITED BOOK, "THE VOYAGE OF THE BEAGLE."
IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THIS, YOU NEED TO READ IT.
IT'S A WONDERFUL READ.
IT'S A "NATURALIST AT LARGE" FORMAT.
EVERYBODY WAS WAITING-- REMEMBER, HE WAS A ROCKSTAR WHEN HE GOT BACK.
EVERYBODY KNEW WHAT HE WAS DOING.
HE WAS FAMOUS BEFORE HE GOT BACK, AND EVERYBODY WAS AWAITING THIS PUBLICATION.
IT WAS HUGELY SUCCESSFUL.
HE BECAME A POPULAR LITERARY TREAT.
EVERYBODY KNEW DARWIN,
AND THIS IS REALLY WHAT SET HIS STAGE NOT ONLY IN SCIENCE,
BUT IN POPULAR LITERATURE AND IN VICTORIAN SOCIETY.
SO, HE FIGURED, "HEY, I'M ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY."
HIS FATHER WAS PROBABLY-- PARDON THE COLLOQUIAL REFERENCE--
WETTING HIS PANTS AT THE TIME.
THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME HIS SON HAD NOT COST HIM MONEY.
(audience laughing)
REMEMBER, HE HAD TO PAY FOR DARWIN TO GO ON THE BEAGLE.
HIS SON WAS GETTING ROYALTIES.
REMEMBER, EVERYBODY BOUGHT BOOKS BACK THEN,
'CAUSE CABLE WAS A FEW YEARS AROUND THE CORNER.
AND SO, HE WAS ACTUALLY MAKING MONEY.
SO, HE SAYS, "WELL, SON, NOW THAT YOU'RE MAKING MONEY,
"ISN'T IT TIME TO GET MARRIED?"
SO, HE HAD A COUSIN.
REMEMBER EMMA, OKAY?
NOW, YOU KNOW, WE SAY THAT YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO MARRY YOUR COUSIN--
MICHIGAN'S ACTUALLY ONE OF THE FEW STATES
THAT MAKES IT ILLEGAL TO MARRY YOUR COUSIN.
DON'T GET ME STARTED. (audience laughing)
OKAY, BECAUSE THE IDEA, THEORETICALLY, IF YOU MARRY A COUSIN OR HAVE KIDS,
YOU'RE GONNA HAVE THREE-HEADED CHILDREN OR SOMETHING,
WHICH BIOLOGICALLY DON'T HAPPEN.
BUT HE COURTED HIS COUSIN BACK THEN,
AND THEY HIT IT OFF IN VICTORIAN-TYPE PARLANCE,
AND THEN, THAT, "WHAT SHOULD-- SHOULD I MARRY THIS WOMAN?"
WELL, YOU KNOW, BEING THE NOW BUDDING SCIENTIST THAT HE WAS,
HE CAME UP WITH A SPREADSHEET--
PROS AND CONS. (audience laughing)
OKAY, I MEAN, THIS IS OUT OF HIS BIOGRAPHY.
HIS PRO-- THESE ARE QUOTES-- "CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP."
LADIES, DON'T SEND ME ANY EMAILS ON THIS-- NOW, DON'T KILL THE MESSENGER.
I AM ONLY REPEATING WHAT HE WROTE HERE.
"CONSTANT COMPANIONSHIP.
"CHILDREN."
I'M GONNA HIDE. (audience chuckling)
AND, "A NICE, SOFT WIFE." (audience laughing)
OKAY, SO-- AGAIN, JUST THE MESSENGER HERE, OKAY?
BUT HE HAD THE "CON" COLUMN.
THE "CON" COLUMN WAS... (laughing)
"LOSS OF TIME" TO FOLLOW HIS SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS.
(audience laughing) I AM PERSONALLY NOT AN ADVOCATE
OF THIS, SO DON'T SEND ANYTHING, OKAY?
AND, "QUARRELING"-- JUST A POTENTIAL.
OKAY?
AND OF COURSE, THE MOST HEINOUS, "FORCED VISITS WITH THE RELATIVES."
(audience laughing) SO, IT WAS A TOSS.
YOU KNOW, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN HERE?
WELL, HE DECIDED, "HECK, I'LL MARRY HER ANYWAY."
SO, THEY GOT TOGETHER, BECAUSE HE WAS A HANDSOME GUY,
AND SO, THEY WIND UP MARRYING
AND THEY WIND UP HAVING, ACTUALLY, TEN CHILDREN, OF WHICH SEVEN SURVIVED.
SO, TEN CHILDREN.
SO, APPARENTLY, THEY GOT THEIR BIOLOGY CORRECT.
THREE YEARS AFTER BEING MARRIED, THEY LEAVE LONDON
AND THEY MOVE TO DOWN HOUSE, WHICH IS IN KENT SHIRE-- KENT COUNTY, HEY!
OKAY, IN KENT SHIRE, AND THEY LIVED THERE FOR ALMOST 40 YEARS,
AND CHARLES RARELY LEFT THE ESTATE.
AND IT WAS AN 18 ACRE AREA, WHICH YOU CAN VIEW TODAY.
THEY JUST REDID IT A COUPLE YEARS AGO, AND YOU CAN GO AND VISIT.
YOU CAN S-- OKAY, THEY WON'T LET YOU SIT IN HIS CHAIR,
EVEN IF YOU ASK NICELY, THEY WON'T LET YOU.
BUT YOU CAN VISIT THIS.
IT'S A NATIONAL MONUMENT THERE, IN THE SOUTH--
YOU CAN SEE WHERE IT'S LOCATED DOWN HERE.
DOWN HERE IN KENT.
AND SO, HE SPENT THE NEXT 40 YEARS THERE, IN HIS STUDY,
AND WHAT HE DID, AS MANY OF YOU KNOW,
EACH DAY, HE WALKED WHAT HE CALLED THE "SANDWALK," AND THERE'S A LITTLE MAP.
WE HAVE THE LIGHT POLLUTION IN HERE.
BUT THIS IS, AGAIN, AN 18 ACRE PLOT, AND HE WOULD WALK THE SANDWALK.
AND YOU CAN SEE HERE, THIS IS ACTUALLY A SANDWALK,
WHERE HE SAID HIS "BEST MOMENTS OF THINKING OCCURRED HERE."
WHEN HE WOULD GET FRUSTRATED, HE'D DRESS-- ALL YEAR LONG--
AND HE WOULD GO OUT AND JUST WALK BY HIMSELF...
AND THINK.
IT WAS HIS PRIVATE TIME AWAY FROM THE TEN CHILDREN AND THE COUSIN...
(laughing) AND SO,
THIS IS WHERE HE DID A LOT OF HIS GREAT WORK.
HE LOOKS BACK AND SAID THIS IS HIS FONDEST MEMORIES
OF THE GREAT INSIGHTS HE OBTAINED IN THESE WALKS.
IN JUNE 1842, HE'S 33 YEARS OLD.
HE DECIDES, "I HAVE TO PRODUCE AN ABSTRACT OF MY IDEAS."
HE'S ALREADY BEEN BACK TEN YEARS, HASN'T HE?
OKAY, HE'S BEEN BACK TEN YEARS.
AND SO, HE SAYS, "WHAT DO I NEED TO DO HERE?
"WELL, I NEED TO KINDA PUT DOWN MY THOUGHTS."
HE OUTLINES THE REASONS, FIRST OF ALL, NOT TO PUBLISH.
REMEMBER, HE WILL BE A HERETIC IF HE DOES THIS.
THIS HAS NOT BEEN DONE IN SCIENCE.
HE'S GOING TO GO AGAINST THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH'S TENANTS.
HE'S GOING TO DEFY DOCTRINE.
"WHY SHOULDN'T I PUBLISH?"
BEING OSTRACIZED BY THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY.
YOU GO, "OH, CLEARLY, I'LL BE EMBRACED BY SCIENCE."
FOLKS, REMEMBER, ALL SCIENTISTS AT THAT POINT WERE CREATIONISTS
AND HAD A DIFFERENT VIEW OF SCIENCE.
THE ATHEISTS, HE WAS AFRAID, WOULD USE IT FOR THEIR OWN AGENDA.
DARWIN DID NOT CONSIDER HIMSELF AN ATHEIST.
IN FACT, THE WHOLE TERM "AGNOSTIC" THAT MANY OF YOU ARE FAMILIAR WITH,
WAS ACTUALLY INVENTED BY A GENTLEMAN WE'LL MEET HERE IN A SECOND,
THOMAS HUXLEY.
AND SO, HE WAS AFRAID THAT "IF I PUBLISH THIS, THE ATHEISTS"--
'CAUSE HE WAS STILL A MAN OF FAITH.
AFTER ALL, HE DID HAVE A DEGREE IN THEOLOGY.
SO, THIS WAS A MAN OF FAITH AND DIDN'T WANT THE ATHEISTS USING THIS AS AMMO.
AND HE WAS AFRAID THE CHURCH WOULD CONDEMN HIM AND SCORN HIM--
IT WAS HIS WHOLE LIFE, TILL THEN.
HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE LABELED AS AN ATHEIST.
AND HE WAS ALSO AFRAID THAT THIS WOULD BETRAY HIS FATHER,
HIS FAMILY, AND HIS FRIENDS.
SO, IN 1842,
HE TAKES HIS ESSAY, HE SEALS IT, AND HE GIVES IT TO EMMA.
AND HE-- DARWIN WAS SURE THAT HE HAD CONTRACTED
A DEADLY TROPICAL DISEASE IN HIS TRAVELS,
AND HE WAS SURE HE WAS NEVER GOING TO LIVE THROUGH THE NEXT YEAR.
AND HE SAID, "IN THE EVENT OF MY DEATH,
"GIVE THIS TO A RESPONSIBLE PERSON TO PUBLISH."
SO, THAT "I DON'T WANT TO PUBLISH IT IN MY LIFE, HEY!
"LET THE FAMILY DEAL WITH IT." (audience laughing)
SO, "GO AHEAD AND PUBLISH THIS, EMMA."
AND EMMA WAS SWORN TO NEVER OPEN THIS ABSTRACT.
AND IN THE WINTER OF 1843,
DARWIN HIRES THIS BOTANIST CLASS SLASH PHYSICIAN--
SELF-TRAINED PHYSICIAN-- JOSEPH HOOKER, TO HELP HIM WITH HIS SPECIMENS.
HOOKER BECOMES VERY IMPORTANT, BECAUSE DARWIN THINKS THAT,
"HERE IS A MAN I MIGHT BE ABLE TO--
"A SCIENTIST THAT I CAN SHARE MY TRANSMUTATION,
"MY EVOLUTION, IDEAS WITH."
DIDN'T DARE DO IT WITH HENSLOW.
DIDN'T DARE DO IT WITH ANY OTHER SCIENTIST.
BUT HE THOUGHT, "MAYBE I CAN DO IT WITH THIS GENTLEMAN."
HE SHARES THE IDEA WITH HOOKER.
AND HOOKER, AS WE'LL SEE HERE, GIVES A COUPLE OTHER SUGGESTIONS
ON HOW TO TREAT THIS.
DARWIN HAS A DILEMMA NOW.
"I HAVE MY THEORY-- IT'S PRETTY MUCH TOGETHER.
"I'M READY TO PUBLISH.
"BUT LOOK AT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO ME--
"SOCIALLY, PROFESSIONALLY, THEOLOGICALLY, AND TO MY FAMILY-- IF I DO THIS."
HE READS-- HE LOOKS IN-- AT WHAT HAPPENED TO ROBERT CHAMBERS.
ROBERT CHAMBERS WROTE A BOOK
CALLED "VESTIGES OF THE NATURAL HISTORY OF CREATION," 1844.
ENGLAND IS INTRODUCED TO TRANSMUTATION FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME.
DARWIN WAS NOT THE FIRST PERSON TO PUBLISH ON EVOLUTION.
THERE WERE 32 OTHER AUTHORS THAT PUBLISHED BEFORE.
THIRTY-TWO.
EVERYBODY KNEW THAT CHANGE HAPPENED--
DARWIN AND WALLACE WERE THE FIRST ONE'S TO SAY HOW.
SO, DARWIN SAID, "DO I WANNA BE LIKE CHAMBERS?"
CHAMBERS PUBLISHED HIS BOOK-- HUGELY SUCCESSFUL IN ENGLAND...
BUT HUGELY SCORNED.
CHAMBERS' CAREER WAS ENDED BY THE PUBLICATION OF THIS BOOK.
IT WAS WRITTEN, BASICALLY, FOR THE UNEDUCATED MASSES,
BUT IT RUINED CHAMBERS' CAREER.
DARWIN'S SAYING, "DO I WANNA WIND UP LIKE CHAMBERS?
"ABSOLUTELY NOT."
HOOKER READS DARWIN'S TRANSMUTATION ESSAY,
WHICH HAD NOW DRAWN TO 231 PAGES.
HOOKER'S SWORN TO CONFIDENCE-- "I'M GOING TO LET YOU READ THIS,
"BUT JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK."
HOOKER SUGGESTS RATHER THAN SAYING "EVOLUTION,"
RATHER THAN SAYING "TRANSMUTATION,"
RATHER, WHY DON'T YOU SAY "PROGRESSIVE CREATION."
"SAY THE CREATOR DID THIS BEETLE, THEN THIS BEETLE, THEN THIS BEETLE,
"THEN THIS TREE AND THIS TREE.
"CALL IT PROGRESSIVE CREATION,"
WHICH STILL, A LOT OF PEOPLE CLING TO TODAY.
AND HOOKER SAID, "I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SAYING,
"I AGREE WITH YOUR EVIDENCE, BUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOU SAYING THIS...
"ARE TOO SEVERE."
SO, DARWIN DECIDES, "OKAY, LET'S DO A TRIAL BALLOON."
THIS IS-- AND WE CAN'T SEE, 'CAUSE OF THE LIGHT POLLUTION IN HERE--
THIS IS DARWIN'S STUDY AT DOWN HOUSE.
HE INVITES, ON APRIL 1856, FOUR PEOPLE--
HOOKER-- REMEMBER, HIS BOTANIST ASSISTANT--
THOMAS WOLLASTON, WHO'S AN ENTOMOLOGIST-- A PERSON WHO STUDIES BUGS--
JOHN LUBBOCK, WHO'S A BANKER, A POLITICIAN, AND A NEIGHBOR.
HE INVITED A SCIENTIST, HE INVITED A POLITICIAN, A BANKER,
AND A FOURTH PERSON-- WE'LL SEE IN A SECOND--
AND HE INVITED EACH OF THESE PEOPLE INDEPENDENTLY INTO THE STUDY,
AND SAID, "I HAVE AN IDEA.
"I WANNA KNOW WHAT YOU THINK."
AND HE WANTED TO FIND THEIR REACTION.
HE OFTEN BOUNCED IT OFF THIS GUY RIGHT HERE-- THOMAS HENRY HUXLEY.
HUXLEY LATER ON BECAME KNOWN AS DARWIN'S "BULLDOG."
REMEMBER, DARWIN WAS A SHY BOY?
HE WAS NOT GOOD AT DEBATE.
HUXLEY, PFFF, ON THE OTHER HAND, LOVED THE SIGHT OF BLOOD, OKAY?
HE WAS DARWIN'S BULLDOG.
HE WAS OUT AS THE STAUNCH ADVOCATE FOR DARWIN, LATER ON.
IN FACT, HE WROTE A BOOK-- THE VERY FIRST BOOK THAT EVER USED--
"EVIDENCE IN MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE," IN 1863--
THE FIRST BOOK TO EVER SUGGEST THAT HUMANS EVOLVED.
DARWIN TENACIOUSLY AVOIDED THAT TOPIC IN THE ORIGINAL "ORIGINS"
BECAUSE OF KNOWING ALL THE BAGGAGE THAT WOULD HAPPEN AFTER IT.
HUXLEY THOUGHT, "HEY, WHAT THE HECK?
"IT'LL BE A GOOD FIGHT." (audience laughing)
OKAY?
LYELL-- REMEMBER CHARLES LYELL, OUR GEOLOGIST?
HERE'S AN IMPORTANT EVENT.
SPRING OF 1856, RECEIVES A 20 PAGE MANUSCRIPT
FROM A GUY BY THE NAME OF ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE.
HOW MANY OF YOU HAVE EVER HEARD THE NAME "ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE"?
THAT'S A GOOD-- A CHUNK OF YOU.
THAT'S VERY GOOD.
WHO THE HECK IS THIS GUY?
HE'S A YOUNG NATURALIST WHO'S WORKING IN THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO--
UNTRAINED, NO CONNECTIONS, NO ROYALTY CONNECTIONS,
NO CONNECTIONS TO SCIENCE.
HE IS EQUIVALENT TO TODAY'S BIOLOGICAL SUPPLY COMPANIES.
WHEN EDUCATION FACILITIES AND RESEARCHERS NEEDED SPECIMENS,
HE WENT AND GOT 'EM AND SHIPPED 'EM HOME.
HE SENDS A MANUSCRIPT TO LYELL,
AND THEN, ALSO, TO, UM-- TO ALFRED RUSSEL--
TO (indistinct), EXCUSE ME.
AND IT'S CALLED "ON THE LAW WHICH HAS REGULATED
"THE INTRODUCTION OF A NEW SPECIES."
LET'S CONTEXTUALIZE THIS.
THIS IS 20 YEARS, NOW, AFTER DARWIN RETURNED FROM THE BEAGLE.
BASICALLY, THIS IS WALLACE'S VIEWS
ON EVOLUTION AND NATURAL SELECTION.
DARWIN READS IT AND FIGURES, "I'M NOT VERY IMPRESSED BY THIS.
"I'M GOING TO TAKE NO ACTION ON THIS."
BUT ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE IS NOT GOING TO GO AWAY.
ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE IS NOW-- IN ALL MODERN TEXTBOOKS,
WHEN YOU TALK ABOUT THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION,
IT'S ALFRED RUSSEL WALLACE AND DARWIN.
THE FIRST TIME THE WORLD, AS WE'LL SEE IN A SECOND,
EVER SAW THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION, BOTH NAMES WERE ON IT.
SO, HE'S NOT GOING AWAY YET.
DARWIN SENDS AN ABSTRACT.
AFTER RECEIVING WALLACE'S ESSAY,
HE THOUGHT, "YOU KNOW, I SHOULD PROBABLY SEND THIS FOR SOME OUTSIDE CRITIQUE."
HE SENDS IT TO-- AND YOU'LL SEE WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT HERE IN A SECOND--
ASA GRAY, A BOTANIST IN THE UNITED STATES,
AND SAID, "WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS?"
LET'S PUT GRAY ON THE BACK BURNER FOR JUST A SECOND.
DARWIN CORRESPONDS WITH WALLACE, AND, "YOU KNOW WHAT?
"THAT ESSAY YOU SENT ME LAST YEAR?
"IT WAS WONDERFUL, KEEP GOING, I AGREE WITH YOU WHATEVER YOU SAY."
BUT WALLACE HAD SAID, "DARWIN, WHAT ARE YOUR VIEWS ON HUMAN ORIGINS?"
DARWIN SAID, BASICALLY, "I REFUSE TO DISCUSS THIS...
"BECAUSE IT'S A MINE FIELD THAT I'M NOT GOING TO GO DOWN."
AND WALLACE DESPERATELY WANTED DARWIN TO COMMENT ON HUMAN ORIGINS,
AND DARWIN WASN'T GOING TO GO THERE.
NOW, LET'S FAST-FORWARD.
DARWIN RECEIVES A SECOND MANUSCRIPT FROM WALLACE.
UH-OH.
LOOK AT THE NAME HERE.
"ON THE TENDENCY OF VARIETIES TO DEPART INDEFINITELY FROM THE ORIGINAL TYPE."
A 23 PAGE MANUSCRIPT...
THAT BEAUTIFULLY OUTLINED DARWIN'S,
WHAT HE CALLED AT THE TIME, HIS "800 PAGE ABSTRACT OF THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."
WHAT YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND HERE ISN'T SCIENCE.
HE OR SHE WHO PUBLISHES FIRST, WINS.
FOLKS HAVE GONE THROUGH DOCTORATE PROGRAMS.
IF YOU BEGIN YOUR PhD IN SCIENCES-- THE AVERAGE PhD--
ONCE YOU BEGIN THE DISSERTATIONS, ABOUT FIVE YEARS.
YOU HAVE TO DO ORIGINAL RESEARCH.
IF SOMEBODY PUBLISHES IT BEFORE YOU FINISH YOURS,
"THAT'S IT, THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME."
THAT'S ALL THERE IS.
HE OR SHE WHO PUBLISHES FIRST, WINS.
DARWIN RECEIVES THIS, OPENS IT UP... "MY GOD.
"THIS IS WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON NOW FOR OVER 20 YEARS,
"BEAUTIFULLY ABSTRACTED IN 20 PAGES."
WALLACE'S VIEW WAS A LITTLE BIT DIFFERENT THAN DARWIN'S.
WALLACE SAID IT'S SELECTION BY NATURE,
AND NOT COMPETITION, THAT GOVERNS EVOLUTION.
SO, DARWIN SAID, "IT'S COMPETITION."
REMEMBER MALTHUS?
COMPETITION, COMPETITION, COMPETITION.
WALLACE HAD A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT VIEW.
WALLACE SAID AN UPWARD TRANSMUTATION
OR EVOLUTION OF HUMAN MORALS WOULD PRODUCE A UTOPIAN SOCIETY.
BASICALLY, IF WE'RE NICER TO EACH OTHER, THAT WILL INCREASE IN OUR QUALITY.
AND HE ALSO SAID THAT COOPERATION IN GROUPS
LEADS TO PROGRESS OF THE HUMAN SPECIES, RATHER THAN COMPETITION.
MALTHUS SAID-- AND DARWIN-- THE OPPOSITE, "NO, IT'S COMPETITION
"THAT DRIVES SUCCESS IN OUR ENVIRONMENTS."
AND THEN, WALLACE SAID, "HIGHER SPIRITUAL POWERS GOVERN THE PROCESS."
DARWIN SAID, "NO, THAT'S NOT SCIENCE.
"YOU CAN'T BRING IN SUPERNATURAL POWERS."
WALLACE ASKED THAT THE MANUSCRIPT BE FORWARDED TO LYELL AND HOOKER.
REMEMBER LYELL, OUR GEOLOGIST?
HOOKER, OUR BOTANIST?
AND SO, IT'S FORWARDED TO THEM.
AND THE QUESTION NOW, DARWIN THINKS, "WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO, WHAT TO DO?"
THINK OF THIS-- DARWIN HAS A COUPLE CHOICES...
"I JUST RECEIVED THIS MANUSCRIPT, AS HAVE TWO OTHER SCIENTISTS.
"I HAVE NOT YET PUBLISHED.
"IT'S BASICALLY WHAT I'VE BEEN WORKING ON FOR 20 YEARS,
"PLUS A FIVE YEAR VOYAGE.
"I WAITED A QUARTER OF A CENTURY.
"I SNOOZE, I LOSE."
WHAT'S ANOTHER OPTION DARWIN COULD DO?
COME ON, BE DEVIOUS. (audience laughing)
TEAR IT UP, RIGHT?
TEAR IT UP, BECAUSE REMEMBER HOW MAIL OCCURRED BACK THEN?
I MEAN, I CAME FROM THE MALAY ARCHIPELAGO, PROBABLY BY SEAHORSE--
TOOK, WHAT, LIKE 18 MONTHS? (audience laughing)
I MEAN, TODAY, WE SAY, "I DIDN'T GET THE BILL," RIGHT?
AND IT WORKS TODAY.
IT WOULD HAVE FLOWN BACK THEN FOR SURE, RIGHT?
WHAT'S ANOTHER OPTION DARWIN COULD HAVE DONE?
BE REALLY DEVIOUS. >> (indistinct speaking).
>> TAKE HIS IDEA.
IF THEY HAD WHITE-OUT BACK THEN...
WHITE-OUT, PUT YOUR NAME ON IT, PUBLISH IT.
OR WHAT ELSE COULD HE HAVE DONE?
WRITTEN BACK TO WALLACE AND SAID, "THIS IS TERRIBLE.
"YOU CALL THIS SCIENCE?"
THEN, OF COURSE, THE LAST OPTION, WOULD BE THE HIGH ROAD...
TO SAY, "YOU BEAT ME.
"YOU PUBLISHED, I DIDN'T."
DARWIN WRITES A LETTER TO LYELL SAYING,
"PLEASE, RETURN TO ME THE MANUSCRIPT FROM WALLACE,
"WHICH HE DOES NOT SAY HE WISHES ME TO PUBLISH,
"BUT I SHALL, OF COURSE, AT ONCE, WRITE TO OFFER AND SEND IT TO ANY JOURNAL."
DARWIN TOOK THE HIGH ROAD.
"IT'S BEEN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS..."
BUT HE OR SHE WHO PUBLISHES IN SCIENCE FIRST, WINS.
THIS COUNTED AS A SUBMISSION.
HOOKER AND LYELL SAID, "CHUCK, CHUCK, CHUCK..."
"YOU'VE BEEN WORKING ON THIS FOR 25 YEARS.
"EVERYBODY KNOWS IT.
"THIS, AFTER ALL, IS WHY HE SENT YOU THE MANUSCRIPT.
"YOU KNOW, YOU'RE THE ONE THAT WROTE THESE OTHER BOOKS.
"YOU NEED TO PUBLISH."
AND DARWIN SAID, "I CAN'T.
"THAT'S NOT HOW IT OPERATES."
AND HE SAYS, "BESIDES, I CAN'T ESTABLISH PRECEDENCE.
"YOU KNOW I WAS WORKING ON IT, YOU KNOW I WAS WORKING ON IT,
"BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRITTEN TO PROVE"-- OH, WAIT A MINUTE.
REMEMBER THE MANUSCRIPT HE SENT TO THE AMERICAN BOTANIST YEARS BEFORE?
WROTE HIM BACK AND SAID, "YOU KNOW THAT MANUSCRIPT I WROTE YOU,
"LIKE, SEVEN YEARS AGO?
"YOU DON'T STILL HAVE THAT KICKIN' AROUND THE KITCHEN, DO YOU?"
AND GRAY DID.
WHAT DID IT NOW DO?
IT ESTABLISHED DARWIN'S PRECEDENCE.
SO, DARWIN COULD HAVE JUST SAID, "WALLACE, YOU SNOOZE, YOU LOSE.
"I BEAT YOU."
NO, WHAT'S THE OUTCOME?
THE OUTCOME IS THE WORLD WAS INTRODUCED, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME,
ON JULY 1st, AT THE ROYAL LINNEAN SOCIETY--
THE EQUIVALENT TO THE BRITISH ACADEMY OF SCIENCES.
THE ROYAL LINNEAN SOCIETY, FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME,
THE WORD WAS EVER FORMALLY INTRODUCED TO THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION.
IT CONTAINED EXTRACTS OF DARWIN'S 1839 MANUSCRIPT
ON SPECIES VARIATION TO ASA GRAY, ESTABLISHING DARWIN'S PRECEDENCE.
IT ALSO CONTAINED EXTRACTS OF THE COVER LETTER TO GRAY.
AND IT ALSO INCLUDED WALLACE'S ENTIRE ESSAY.
DARWIN DID THE RIGHT THING.
HE ESTABLISHED HIS PRECEDENCE, "I DID THIS FIRST,
"BUT THIS MAN DID IT CONCURRENTLY.
"AND HIS PRODUCT IS SO SIGNIFICANT, WE CAN'T JUST NOT COUNT HIM."
THE VERY FIRST TIME THE WORLD WAS EXPOSED TO THIS, WHICH IS IN 1858,
IT WAS UNDER THE AUTHORSHIP OF NOT DARWIN, OF NOT WALLACE, BUT WHAT?
DARWIN AND WALLACE.
THEN, WHY DID DARWIN GET ALL THE INFAMY OR ALL THE FAME?
BECAUSE THE FOLLOWING YEAR, HE PRODUCED WHAT?
"THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES."
AND THAT'S WHEN IT KIND OF HIT THE FAN.
BECAUSE HE IS THE ONE, NOW, THAT PRODUCED THE BOOK.
WALLACE WENT ON TO OTHER PURSUITS.
IN NOVEMBER 24th, 1859, THE TITLE-- THE CLASSIC VICTORIAN TITLE--
OF "THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY MEANS OF NATURAL SELECTION,
"OR THE PRESERVATION OF FAVOURED RACES IN THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE,"
JUST ROLLS OFF THE TONGUE. (audience laughing)
OKAY?
WHICH IS WHY, NOW, WE'VE SHORTENED IT TO "THE ORIGIN."
TWELVE HUNDRED AND FIFTY COPIES SOLD OUT THE FIRST DAY.
SECOND EDITION PRINTING OF 3,000-- SOLD OUT IN TWO DAYS.
IT'S BEEN PRINTED IN OVER 60 LANGUAGES, AND THE SECOND--
THE FIRST EDITION SOLD OUT ON THAT DAY,
DARWIN BEGAN WORK ON THE SECOND EDITION.
AND WHAT IS THE OUTCOME?
THE WORLD AS WE KNEW IT, CHANGED FOREVER.
THERE WAS NO LOOKING BACK.
THERE IS NO WAY OF SAYING, "WE THINK AS WE THOUGHT BEFORE."
THAT VICTORIAN LENS OF THE NATURAL WORLD WAS FOGGED NOW.
YOU COULD NEVER LOOK THROUGH THAT AGAIN AND VIEW NATURE THE SAME WAY.
BECAUSE DARWIN HAD OPENED A DIFFERENT WAY OF LOOKING AT NATURE
THAT DID NOT INVOLVE ANY DIVINE INTERVENTION,
BUT LOOKED AT IT TRULY SCIENTIFICALLY FOR THE FIRST TIME,
REQUIRING THAT WE ONLY USE LAWS OF NATURE
TO EXPLAIN WHAT IS OBSERVED
AND NOT ALLOWING ANY SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION IN THERE.
"THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES" HAS A REALLY NICE EPILOGUE IN IT, RIGHT AT THE END, AND...
I'D READ IT FOR YOU, BUT IT'S PROBABLY IN EIGHT-POINT FONT HERE,
AND I'M IN THAT POINT OF DENIAL RIGHT NOW, BETWEEN GLASSES AND NO GLASSES--
(audience chuckling) SO, I'M GOING TO HOLD IT HERE,
AND I'M GOING TO READ FROM HERE, JUST FOR EFFECT NOW.
OKAY, NOW, LET ME READ IT FOR YOU HERE.
IN THE LAST COUPLE PAGES,
HE SAYS, "IT IS INTERESTING TO CONTEMPLATE A TANGLED BANK,
"CLOTHED WITH MANY PLANTS OF MANY KINDS,
"WITH BIRDS SINGING ON THE BUSHES, WITH VARIOUS INSECTS FLITTING ABOUT"--
I DIDN'T KNOW THAT INSECTS "FLITTED" BUT APPARENTLY THEY DO--
"WITH INSECTS FLITTING ABOUT AND WITH WORMS CRAWLING THROUGH THE DAMP EARTH,
"AND TO REFLECT THAT THESE ELABORATELY CONSTRUCTED FORMS,
"SO DIFFERENT FROM EACH OTHER,
"AND DEPENDENT UPON EACH OTHER IN SO COMPLEX A MANNER,
"HAVE ALL BEEN PRODUCED BY THE NATURAL LAWS WORKING AROUND US."
NOT SUPERNATURAL INTERVENTION.
HE, THEN, FINISHES WITH A VERY FAMOUS QUOTE FROM THE BOOK
AND HE SAYS IT SO ELOQUENTLY IN THE FIRST TO LAST PARAGRAPH OF THE BOOK.
"THERE'S GRANDEUR IN THIS VIEW OF LIFE, WITH ITS SEVERAL POWERS,
"HAVING BEEN ORIGINALLY BREATHED IN BY THE CREATOR,"
STILL HANGING ON TO THAT IN THE FIRST EDITION,
"INTO A FEW FORMS OR INTO ONE, AND THAT, WHILST THIS PLANET
"HAS GONE CYCLING ON ACCORDING TO THE FIXED LAW OF GRAVITY,
"FROM SO SIMPLE A BEGINNING, ENDLESS FORMS,
"MOST BEAUTIFUL AND MOST WONDERFUL,
"HAVE BEEN AND ARE BEING EVOLVED."
THE STORY DRAWS TO A CONCLUSION IN APRIL 1882.
DARWIN, AT 73 YEARS OLD, SUFFERS A SIGNIFICANT HEART ATTACK,
AND DIES SEVERAL DAYS LATER.
EMMA'S CONCERN, BESIDES THE LOSS OF HER HUSBAND,
IS THE FACT THAT THEY WILL NOT BE SHARING
ETERNITY TOGETHER. (audience reacts)
BUT THINK ABOUT THIS.
HERE'S A WOMAN WHO IS MARRIED TO THE MAN
WHO CHANGED THE WAY THAT WE LOOK AT THE NATURAL WORLD...
AND STILL, HER CONCERN, UPON HIS DEATH,
WAS THAT THEY WOULD NOT BE ABLE TO SPEND ETERNITY TOGETHER,
STILL HAVING THOSE ANGLICAN BELIEFS.
SO, CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN, THE VICTORIAN HERETIC,
WHO WAS (indistinct) A "SLOW BOY," WITH MINIMUM POTENTIAL...
AN "IDLE BOY" WHO BECAME AN "IDLE MAN,"
WHO WAS SURE TO EMBARRASS THE FAMILY AND THE ENTIRE DARWIN NAME.
HE CHANGED THE WORLD, IN WHICH WE LOOK AT IT.
ON APRIL 19th, HE DIES.
ONE WEEK LATER, HE'S BURIED...
NOT IN PAUPER'S SQUARE, NOT IN DISGRACE,
BUT HE'S BURIED WHERE?
WESTMINSTER ABBEY.
THAT'S THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS PLACE THAT YOU CAN BE BURIED.
AND YOU KNOW WHO HE'S BURIED NEXT TO?
SIR ISAAC NEWTON. (audience reacts)
"IF I HAVE SEEN FURTHER,
"IT IS BY STANDING ON YE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS."
WHAT MORE APPROPRIATE PLACE FOR DARWIN TO BE BURIED?
HE DIED NOT IN DISGRACE.
HE DIED EXULTED AND RECOGNIZED, AND "MY GOD, YOU HAVE CHANGED THE WORLD."
BECAUSE WE HAD AN "IDLE BOY" WHO TURNED GIANT.
THOSE OF US IN THE BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES TODAY
HAVE BEEN ABLE TO SEE FURTHER BECAUSE WE'VE STOOD ON THE SHOULDER OF A GIANT.
WHAT WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED TODAY
IS WHAT ONLY WE WISHED DARWIN'S FATHER COULD HAVE LIVED LONG ENOUGH
TO FIND OUT WHAT HIS SON HAD DONE.
LOOK AT THIS LAST PASSAGE FROM DARWIN'S MEMOIR.
"IT HAS BEEN A BITTER MORTIFICATION FOR ME
"TO DIGEST THE CONCLUSION THAT THIS RACE,"
THE ONE THAT HE HAD SPENT HIS CAREER DESCRIBING,
"THAT THIS RACE FOR SURVIVAL
"IS FOR THE STRONG AND THAT I," CHARLES DARWIN,
"SHALL PROBABLY DO LITTLE MORE BUT BE CONTENT
"TO ADMIRE THE STRIDES OTHERS HAVE MADE IN SCIENCE."
TALK ABOUT THE GREAT UNDERSTATEMENT OF ALL TIME,
AND TALK ABOUT A NOT-ASSUMING PERSON.
THANK YOU. (applause)