Escuche esta historia
--:--
4:12
Charles Darwin's notebooks return to Cambridge University
The important manuscripts were stolen almost twenty years ago
The notebooks of a researcher or writer can be a true treasure, both for the researcher and for the connoisseur of his work.
If we talk about the manuscripts of Charles Darwin, which helped him to shape his theory of evolution, making him one of the greatest scientists of the 19th century; then, the importance of these notebooks becomes monumental.
This thought must have been had, twenty years ago, by the person responsible for stealing two of his notebooks; which accompanied Darwin at the end of 1830, when on his trip to the Galápagos Islands, he came to glimpse his theory of evolution.
The return of Darwin's manuscripts
mystery of a disappearance
Something that is very common in the world's libraries and archives is that researchers take photographs of important files or notebooks; that was the case of Darwin's notebooks, which between 2000 or 2001, were requested to be photographed.
However, a couple of months after this request, the university library workers realized that the manuscripts were missing ; thinking that they could have been kept out of place, something that usually happens in any library in the world.
For several years the books were searched, thus creating one of the largest searches in the history of the Cambridge library; so at the end of the expertise, the library authorities realized that these manuscripts had been stolen.
The Librarian's Call in 2020
It was in the year 2020, when the theft of these copies would come to light, making the Cambridge librarian, Jessica Gardner, a public appeal to gather information about the notebooks, incorporating INTERPOL and Scotland Yard, in the search for the notebooks of Darwin.
Both institutions, in connection with other organisms, carried out their investigations, but without throwing up any important data; until on March 9, 2022, a pink bag would appear in the Cambridge library, with a surprise note for Jessica Gardner.
The notebooks return to Cambridge
The manuscripts appeared in perfect condition, according to the librarian; inside a box with the Cambridge filing cabinet, next to a brown envelope that said, “Librarian, Happy Easter. X”.
During this time, tests were carried out to confirm that they were the notebooks of Charles Darwin, reaching the conclusion that, indeed, they are the original manuscripts.
On July 9, 2022, the notebooks of Charles Darwin will once again be available to researchers; being able again, to be a useful material, for new and future investigations.
Who was Charles Darwin, and why is he so important to science?
Charles Darwin was an English naturalist, who became one of the most important men of his time, thanks to the development of his controversial theory of evolution.
Darwin was born on February 12, 1809 in the United Kingdom, and would die on April 19, 1882, living much of the nineteenth century, being impregnated with the theories of his time.
One of these theories was positivism, which postulated a perennial path to progress, and which also influenced the theories of the natural sciences, as seen with the naturalist Charles Darwin.
The theory of species selection, or the theory of evolution, maintains that species will always seek to evolve to higher stages of development, so that each of the species will seek to reproduce with pairs that allow it to evolve further.
For its part, the theory of evolution pointed out, among other things, that we all come from a common ancestor, which he used in one of his returned notebooks, through the drawing called the “tree of life”.
This drawing indicated how all the organisms came from a common trunk, the differences between the species being the branches of this tree. It was drawn at the end of 1830, being a graphic display of the ideas that Darwin developed in his mind.
Influence of Charles Darwin in other areas of knowledge
When Charles Darwin published his “Origin of Species”, it caused a stir in the European intellectual world, causing everyone to take sides.
Some people in his time, mainly religious people, detested his theory; while many others joined it, almost as a new scientific dogma.
Some social scientists such as Herbert Spencer, wanted to bring Darwin's theories to the social field, obtaining great roots in Europe; while another controversial writer, Karl Marx, had dedicated his work “Capital” to Charles Darwin, but he would not have agreed.
Today, his theory continues to be seriously studied in different areas of human knowledge, and the recovery of his manuscripts will help improve the vision of his ideas.
