Essay Questions

Why are Beetles vital in Darwin's life?-“CAMBRIDGE 1828-1831.”

Darwin recounts, “But no pursuit at Cambridge was followed with nearly so much eagerness or gave me so much pleasure as collecting beetles. It was the mere passion for collecting, for I did not dissect them, and rarely compared their external characters with published descriptions, but got them named anyhow.” Darwin’s hobby of collecting beetles makes his stay worthwhile at Cambridge. Among all his activities and engagement, the collection of beetles gives him the ultimate pleasure. He engages in natural learning which is more enjoyable than the mathematic courses which he does not enjoy or grasp. His passion for beetles foreshadows his later career as an ecologist.

Expound the irony of Darwin’s nose-"VOYAGE OF THE 'BEAGLE' FROM DECEMBER 27, 1831, TO OCTOBER 2, 1836."

Darwin explains, “Afterwards, on becoming very intimate with Fitz-Roy, I heard that I had run a very narrow risk of being rejected, on account of the shape of my nose! He was an ardent disciple of Lavater, and was convinced that he could judge of a man's character by the outline of his features; and he doubted whether any one with my nose could possess sufficient energy and determination for the voyage. But I think he was afterwards well satisfied that my nose had spoken falsely.” Fitz-Roy concludes, based on the form of Darwin’s nose, that Darwin would not be ideal for the voyage for his nose offers hints of non-existent determination. However, Fitz-Roy realizes that the nose did not portray Darwin’s character accurately. The irony of the nose underlines the inherent limitation of Lavater’s ideology concerning the correlation between nose shapes and personas.

Why does Darwin undermine science?-“FROM MY RETURN TO ENGLAND (OCTOBER 2, 1836) TO MY MARRIAGE (JANUARY 29)”

Darwin expounds, “This paper (Philosophical Transactions) was a great failure, and I am ashamed of it. Having been deeply impressed with what I had seen of the elevation of the land of South America, I attributed the parallel lines to the action of the sea; but I had to give up this view when Agassiz propounded his glacier-lake theory. Because no other explanation was possible under our then state of knowledge, I argued in favour of sea-action; and my error has been a good lesson to me never to trust in science to the principle of exclusion." Darwin's acknowledgment suggests that scientific theories are not absolute facts. Accordingly, there could be inherent errors that would result in flawed scientific conclusions. Moreover, Darwin's concession affirms that scientists are not perfect; they err in their scientific reasoning too. The divergent theories regarding the elevation depicts inconsistencies which are unavoidable in the scientific community.