Work in progress seminar

Fuegian paints and papuan wood-carvings:

Collecting and recollecting natural selection

Dr Janet Owen

3rd September 2015,6pm,reading room,learn lobe

On 1 July 1858, Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace first publically announced the theory of evolution by natural selection at a scientific meeting.

Underpinning their vision for natural selection was the detailed acquisition and study of specimens. These collections were an important part of a rich data pool, providing sparks of inspiration and concrete evidence. Today, their specimens are dispersed across museums in the UK and abroad.

I am examining two sub-sets of these collections that include rare ethnographic artefacts: from Darwin’s visits to Tierra del Fuego in 1833-4, and Wallace’s excursion to New Guinea in 1858.

I will explore the details of collecting to see how this might have influenced the development of Darwin and Wallace’s ideas.