Darwin's Evolutionary Botany

达尔文的进化植物学

• 批准号: 0622336
• 负责人: David Kohn
• 金额: $ 23.16万
• 依托单位: American Museum Natural History
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-09-01 至 2010-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0622336&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Darwin; Evolutionary; Botany

The objective of this project is to reconstruct the intellectual development of Darwin's botany over the course of his long scientific career. The required activities include study of a large collection of archival and printed sources in order to (1) establish the precise links between Darwin's ideas on plant sexuality and physiology and the botanical works of late 17th to early 19th century botany, (2) establish a detailed picture of the botanical and horticultural activities of Darwin's family, particularly Erasmus Darwin, Robert Waring Darwin, and John Wedgwood, (3) establish the content of Charles Darwin's botanical education in Cambridge with Professor John Stevens Henslow and Darwin's involvement with Henslow's research, (4) establish the scope of Darwin's botanical collections during the Beagle voyage and determine its significance for the emergence of his transmutation theory, (5) establish the relationship between his interest in plant sexuality and the emergence of natural selection, (6) establish the scope of Darwin's post- Notebooks observations on floral anatomy, (7) establish the links between Darwin's barnacle work and his interest in plant hermaphrodites, (8) establish the role of floristic and biodiversity experiments at Down for the formation of the principle of divergence during the writing of the Origin, and (9) establish the points of initiation and further development of the research program leading to each of his six botanical books including the links to botanical research in Britain, Europe and America. The archival sources that will be interpreted--primarily located at Cambridge University Library--include many folios of scientific notes, drafts, extensive marginal annotations on books and periodicals in Darwin's library, and detailed abstracts of serials and botanical books. A significant amount of transcription of Darwin's scientific notes, particularly those related to the Power of Movement will be undertaken. The historical methods that will be deployed are close reading of texts, tracking of sources, and contextualization. Intellectual Merit: The intellectual merits of the reconstruction that will be developed from this research are as follows: it will (1) show how Darwin translated prior botanical traditions into an evolutionary context, (2) illuminate the roles botany played in the development and maturation of Darwin overall evolutionary theory, and (3) show how Darwin, in association with botanical colleagues, laid the foundations for evolutionary botany. This will be the first comprehensive study of Darwin's botany. Broader Impacts: The broadest impact of this study will be to bring an understanding of Darwin's botany to a wide public audience by way of a clearly organized and engagingly written narrative account of Darwin's scientific life as a botanist. Related activities of the PI, based on the research for Darwin's Evolutionary Botany, including participation in international exhibits and the Darwin at Downe Nominated World Heritage Site will raise awareness of the important evolutionary and ecological themes of Darwin's botany and will deepen public understanding of his scientific practice and creativity.

这个项目的目标是重建达尔文在他漫长的科学生涯中的植物学的智力发展。所需的活动包括研究大量的档案和印刷资料，以便(1)建立达尔文关于植物性学和生理学的思想与17世纪末至19世纪初植物学著作之间的精确联系，(2)建立达尔文家族，特别是伊拉斯谟·达尔文、罗伯特·瓦林·达尔文和约翰·韦奇伍德的植物和园艺活动的详细图景，(3)与约翰·史蒂文斯·亨斯洛教授一起建立查尔斯·达尔文在剑桥的植物学教育的内容，以及达尔文参与亨斯洛的研究，(4)确定达尔文在Beagle航程中的植物学收藏范围，并确定其对他的转化理论的出现的意义，(5)建立他对植物性的兴趣和自然选择的出现之间的关系，(6)建立达尔文关于植物解剖学的后笔记本观察的范围，(7)建立达尔文的藤壶工作和他对植物两性动物的兴趣之间的联系，(8)在撰写《起源》的过程中，建立在Down的植物和生物多样性实验对形成发散原理的作用，以及(9)建立研究计划的启动点和进一步发展的点，导致他的六本植物学书籍中的每一本，包括与英国、欧洲和美国的植物学研究的联系。将解释的档案来源--主要位于剑桥大学图书馆--包括许多科学笔记、草稿、达尔文图书馆书籍和期刊的大量页边注释，以及连载和植物学书籍的详细摘要。将对达尔文的科学笔记进行大量转录，特别是那些与运动的力量有关的笔记。将采用的历史方法是文本细读、来源追踪和语境化。智力价值：这项研究将开发的重建的智力价值如下：它将(1)展示达尔文如何将先前的植物学传统转化为进化背景，(2)阐明植物学在达尔文整体进化理论的发展和成熟中所发挥的作用，以及(3)展示达尔文如何与植物学同行一起，为进化植物学奠定基础。这将是对达尔文植物学的第一次全面研究。更广泛的影响：这项研究最广泛的影响将是通过对达尔文作为植物学家的科学生活的清晰组织和引人入胜的文字叙述，向广大公众介绍达尔文的植物学。在达尔文进化植物学研究的基础上，PI的相关活动，包括参加国际展览和达尔文在唐恩提名的世界遗产，将提高人们对达尔文植物学重要进化和生态主题的认识，并将加深公众对他的科学实践和创造力的理解。