Article ID: CBB940755107

Charles Darwin Did Not Mislead Joseph Hooker in Their 1881 Correspondence About Leopold Von Buch and Karl Ernst Von Baer (2020)

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While Joseph Hooker was considering his upcoming presentation on the geographical distribution of species, he asked Charles Darwin for help with some references. During the ensuing exchange of correspondence, Darwin seems to have contradicted himself, regarding his being aware of Leopold von Buch’s observation that distributed varieties become species, prior to writing On the Origin of Species. Literalists and conspiracists have interpreted this apparent self-contradiction as a sign of duplicity and fraud. However, when the correspondence and Hooker’s address are analysed in context, there is a more compelling explanation. Simply that, in response to direct questioning by Hooker, Darwin conflated the two names of Von Baer and Von Buch, and made an honest mistake.

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Authors & Contributors
Stamos, David N.
Nathan, Simon
Endersby, Jim
Browne, E. Janet
Esme Mildenhall
van Dijk, Tessa
Concepts
Evolution
Biology
Correspondence and corresponding
Species concept (biology)
Biographies
Science and religion
Time Periods
19th century
20th century
Places
Great Britain
New Zealand
England
Amazon River Region (South America)
Ukraine
Germany
Institutions
New Zealand Geological Survey
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