charles_darwin

170
Annotated Bibliography
———. The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. London: John
Murray, 1872. The last of Darwin’s published books on the evolution of
animals. Darwin believed the behavioral sciences could prove that his
theory of evolution was scientifically sound. He argued that the study of
expression verified two important components of his theory of descent:
first, the various races of humans descended from a single parent stock;
and, second, humans descended from a simpler animal form.
———. Insectivorous Plants. London: John Murray, 1875. Explains in detail
how certain plants have adapted so that they catch and digest insects.
Darwin’s sons Francis and George did some of the drawings.
———. The Effects of Cross and Self Fertilisation in the Vegetable Kingdom.
London: John Murray, 1876. Complement to his book on orchids
(1862). Darwin demonstrates why cross-fertilization is necessary and
how plants are adapted to effect this. Darwin’s skills as a statistician
are evident. There are more than one hundred tables of measurements
that Darwin took to verify his thesis that cross-fertilization was the
most effective means for plants to produce the strongest progeny.
———. The Different Forms of Flowers on Plants of the Same Species. London:
John Murray, 1877. A description of the characteristics of heterogonous
plants. (Darwin called them ‘‘heterostyled.’’) These plants demonstrate
the veracity of two assertions that Darwin made in The Origin of Species:
first, classification is artificial; and, second, the male and female parts of
these plants are organized in a way to produce the most number of seeds
and pollen with the minimum expenditure of energy (which enables
them to survive in their environment better than their competitors).
———. The Power of Movement in Plants. London: John Murray, 1880. A
good example of Darwin’s skill as an experimental botanist. Darwin
invented a series of experiments that enabled him to observe how
plants moved and under what conditions. His son Francis assisted in
the research.
———. The Formation of Vegetable Mould, Through the Action of Worms, with
Observations on their Habits. London: John Murray, 1881. Defense and revision
of ideas presented in a paper to the Geological Society of London
in 1837. Darwin argues that worms make a significant difference to the
surface of the Earth. Concludes that the action of worms demonstrates
that the sum of a large number of small effects is always great in nature.
An argument for the principle of uniformitarianism in evolution.
Articles
Barrett, Paul H., ed. The Collected Papers of Charles Darwin. 2 vols. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 1977. Darwin wrote more than 150
articles of various lengths. The two volumes contain all of the articles
written by Darwin that Barrett could find. Each article is included in