Paradisaea rubra

Charles Darwin’s Descent of Man, 150 Years Later

A new book on Darwin’s classic asks what he got right and wrong about “the highest and most interesting problem for the naturalist:” human evolution.
Edward Drinker Cope

The Bizarre Theories of the American School of Evolution

The paleontologist Edward Drinker Cope condemned women's suffrage and Black Americans through an evolutionary lens.
A portrait of Emily Dickinson in front of an evolutionary illustration

How Emily Dickinson Wrestled with Darwinism

The current vogue for the Amherst poet needs to give credit to the way she readily examined her childhood ideas about fixed and immutable truth.
Emma and Charles Darwin

Darwin in Love

Charles Darwin, who of all people should have known better, married his first cousin. Did his love for Emma color his later works?
Diagram representing the divergence of species

An Early Review of On the Origin of Species

"Darwin openly and almost scornfully repudiates the whole doctrine of Final Causes. He finds no indication of design or purpose anywhere..."
Source: John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Richard Prum: How Does Beauty Evolve?

Prum speaks on Darwin’s idea of sexual selection, the importance of arbitrary traits, and why he could never choose a favorite species of bird.
Charles Darwin

Charles Darwin Was One Sick Dude

Charles Darwin was able to pursue his life's work despite suffering from a variety of ailments the doctors could never explain. 
Photograph of Charles Darwin by Maull and Polyblank for the Literary and Scientific Portrait Club (1855).

Charles Darwin In His Own Words

Some collected letters and observations from the great naturalist, Charles Darwin.