Correspondance project: Letters Between Charles DArwin and J.D. Hooker

      When
looking at the Darwin Correspondence
Project website I found myself frequently coming across letters between
Charles Darwin and Joseph Dalton Hooker. When initially searching through the
correspondence website I was searching the key term “origin” and “vestiges” in
the year 1844 to see letter based discussion about the topic of origins the
year he released the first form of On the
Origin of Species as well as discussion of Robert Chambers Vestiges of the Natural History of
Creation. The two main letter I focused on was one from Hooker to Darwin from
September 188 and one from Darwin to hooker written on Christmas 1844. In my
first letter from Hooker to Darwin he discusses his findings on a comparison of
diversity of vegetation between Brazil and the Andres. In this letter he also
discusses his thoughts on species distribution in relation to climate and
region and discusses the idea that certain species may only be able to survive
up to certain sea levels, latitudinal positions, or environmental conditions.
He is curious if Darwin himself has considered these questions and would have
liked his opinion on the subject. I think this was very valuable for both
Darwin and hooker to be able to discuss such deep philosophical ideas from the
perspective of a botanist and zoologist. 

     This gets me into my second letter
from Darwin to Hooker which takes place several months and several letters
later. After trading more data and thoughts on the subject presented in the
letter in September. In this letter Darwin discusses that he finds work of
Botany very difficult to understand for someone who is not well informed and
well trained in this subject matter and wonders if there could be a way to
rewrite some of these works in a manner that could be more understood by a non-botanist.
In origin of species Darwin states in the text that this is a text that is
written in manner that it can be taken in by all parts of society. I enjoyed
the collaborative efforts between these men but I enjoy that they drive each
other to make their work more accessible to a non-specialist in any field so
that they too may develop thoughts and opinions on these deep subject matters
discussing the origin and form of our planet as well as the specific conditions
which make certain species survive in certain geographical locations. I as an
interdisciplinary student myself like looking at how working closely with
experts in very different specialized focuses can broaden their view on the
world and their particular research by getting a perspective that you may not
even consider from within your particular mindset. With collaboration here you
can see the expansion of both of these men’s work as well as the accessibility
of these works to the common non-science focused individual.

Source(J.D. hooker Wikiperdia).