Darwin the Geologist

Last weekend over 30 delegates gathered at the Sedgwick Museum to hear 12 talks about Darwin’s collecting practices, observations and experiments. The topics presented at the ‘Darwin in the Field’ conference ranged from the 1831 fieldtrip to North Wales with Adam Sedgwick that Darwin went on to learn geological skills to Darwin’s last major piece of fieldwork at Glen Roy in Scotland that is considered to be his greatest scientific failure.

Darwin’s work on the Beagle featured prominently with talks focussing on the field notebooks he used record his observations in and specific finds, places and theories. His collections of coral reef material, fossil bones of large extinct creatures and fossils from the Falkland Islands were all discussed. Other presentations looked at Darwin’s theories of igneous petrology, transmutation of species and transoceanic dispersal. The conference was an opportunity for lively discussion between scientists, historians and museum professionals about the often neglected, practical aspects of Darwin’s work.

A full list of speakers and topics can be found here. Photographs are courtesy of John van Wyhe.