charles_darwin

96
Biographies
Emma provided stability in Darwin’s life. She insisted that
Darwin take care of his health, convincing him to take holidays or
seek specialist help when he became too ill. Emma read to Darwin
on most evenings so that he could continue to enjoy nonscientific
books without the strain of more reading. Emma also played the
piano to Darwin to help him relax. Most important, Emma managed
the household (which included children and servants) so that
Darwin was able to concentrate on his scientific work.
After Darwin died in 1882, Emma continued to live in Down
House until her own death in 1896. With the visits of children and
grandchildren she continued to be what she had been since her marriage
to Charles in 1839: the fulcrum of the Darwin family.
Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire (16 December
1805–10 November 1861)
Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was one of several worldrenowned
French scientists of the first half of the nineteenth century,
along with Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), Henri Milne-Edwards
(1800–1885), and Alphonse De Candolle (1806–1893). Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire’s work on monstrosities, major deformities in animals,
was a critical component of Darwin’s theory of mutation. Geoffroy
Saint-Hilaire argued that monstrosities were more common that naturalists
had recognized previously. Darwin used this idea to argue that
the number of species was not fixed: varieties of species, including
those with monstrosities, were evolving into new species.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire was born into a scientific family. His father
Etienne (1772–1844) was a prominent zoologist. Isidore followed
his father into zoology and even Isidore’s research on
deformities in organisms was a continuation of work begun by his father.
Also like his father, he became professor of zoology at the
Museum d’Histoire naturelle [Natural History Museum] in Paris
(1841–1850).
The importance of Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire’s seminal work on
anomalies and abnormalities in the structure of organisms was recognized
during his life. He was elected to the prestigious Academie des
sciences [Academy of Science] in 1833. He was director of the
Menagerie de Jardin des Plantes [Zoo of the Botanical Garden] in
Paris (1841–1861) and professor of zoology at the Sorbonne (1851–
1861), the foremost university in France.
Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire coined the term teratology, the study of
major abnormalities in organic beings. He wrote several important