Standard Research Grant: The Botanical Manuscripts of Charles Darwin

American Museum Natural History, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Project Overview This project is to develop research infrastructure. It will create digital access to Darwin's Botanical Manuscripts, a prodigious collection of never published research documents. They comprise the largest surviving body of Darwin's experimental designs and data. Each manuscript will be transcribed and annotated; in addition, it will be presented side by side with its corresponding high-resolution, full-color digital image. The material will form an integral part of the Darwin Manuscripts Project's website (http://darwin.amnh.org). Intellectual Merit Darwin's Botanical Manuscripts represents an enormous reservoir of research narratives that are amenable to study by scholars in history, philosophy, and social studies of science. The collection opens up thousands of primary documents for close examination of Darwin's observational and experimental practices. Models of scientific method, discovery, and explanation can be tested and expanded against Darwin's large bodies of empirical research. The collection offers opportunities to study the ways that theory and experiment interacted over the course of Darwin's many botanical projects. It offers, as well, new perspectives on Darwin's own representations of his scientific practice. The study of social interactions with colleagues who contributed to the execution of Darwin's research can also be put on a more concrete basis than has been possible to date. Broader Impacts Darwin's Botanical Manuscripts is a treasure trove of experiments that can be readily repeated and have the potential to be used in the improvement of STEM education. Access to digital images of Darwin's handwritten experimental designs and data can enhance the educational value of such exercises. Many experiments were extremely simple and used common plants. Some also used homemade apparatus (like a bell jar) and relied on equally simple manipulations, such as weighing and counting. Darwin set up most of his experiments in order to test/confirm a strong hypothesis. Therefore, the rationale and underlying concepts can be plainly explained. In addition, the PI is working as part of a team on a proposal to create a robust education program based on Darwin's experiments.