Photo: Dr Michael Rands, Master of Darwin College with CPS President Dr Claire Barlow. Behind a portrait by Robin Darwin (1910–1974) of Sir Charles Galton Darwin (1887–1962) who authored a number of the CPS papers donated to Darwin College.

Cambridge Philosophical Society President Dr Claire Barlow had the pleasure of presenting Dr Michael Rands, Master of Darwin College Cambridge to donate copies of CPS journals which members of the Darwin Family had contributed to during the 19th and 20th centuries. These included articles from three of Charles Darwin's sons; Sir George Howard Darwin, Francis Darwin and Horace Darwin. George Howard Darwin (1845-1912) being CPS president twice between 1890-1892 and 1910-1912. His brother, the botanist Francis Darwin, was CPS president between 1896 and 1898. George Howard Darwin's son, Charles Galton Darwin also contributed articles to the journals. Cambridge Philosophical Society President Dr Claire Barlow is herself a direct descendant of Charles Darwin.

The Cambridge Philosophical Society holds a vast archive of material dating back to its foundation in 1819. Part of this archive includes our journal publications, which began in 1822. During this time numerous members of the Darwin family have contributed articles to both TRANSACTIONS (1822-1928) and PROCEEDINGS (1843-1954) of the Cambridge Philosophical Society.

Dr Edwin Rose, an AHRC Early Career Research Fellow from the Department of History and Philosophy of Science over saw the collection of the journals from the CPS archive. Dr Rose said:

"It is a delight to see the donation of such important articles to Darwin College. These papers embody some the most significant work of George Howard Darwin and Charles Galton Darwin, two generations of the Darwin family of Newnham Grange, the property that became Darwin College in the mid-1960s. They also represent the broader scientific contributions of the Darwin family of Cambridge and their close relationship with the Cambridge Philosophical Society—something continued by Darwin College to this day."

The Cambridge Philosophical Society has had a close connection with the Darwin Family since it's very foundation. Two of our founders, John Stevens Henslow and Adam Sedgwick were both mentor's of Charles Darwin at the University of Cambridge. John Stevens Henslow was also a friend of Darwin inspiring him with a passion for natural history, proposing him to sail on the HMS Beagle as the naturalist on its five-year voyage, and promoting Darwin’s work as he developed his theory of evolution.

The fifteen offprints and journal parts come from both the Transactions of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and the Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society and cover a variety of subjects in the biological, physical and mathematical sciences. The donated journals are:

DARWIN, C. G. Lagrangian methods for high speed motion. 20 (1920) 56-60.
The optical constants of matter. XXIII (1924) 137-67.
Notes on optical constants. I. The optical behaviour of certain atomic models. 22 (1925) 817-23. II.
The lateral scattering from a gas. 22 (1925) 824-31.
The diamagnetism of the free electron. 27 (1931) 86-90.
Note on hydrodynamics. 49 (1953) 342-54.
DARWIN, C. G. & FOWLER, R.H. Partition functions for temperature radiation and the internalenergy of a crystalline solid. 21 (1922) 262-73.
Fluctuations in an assembly in statistical equilibrium. 21 (1923) 391-404.
Some refinements of the theory of dissociation equilibria. 21 (1923) 730-45.
DARWIN, F. Observations on stomata by a new method. 9 (1897) 303-8.
On Farmer's method of demonstrating assimilation. 9 (1898) 338-40.
Preliminary note on the function of the root-tip in relation to geotropism. 11 (1901) 134-5.
DARWIN, F. & PERTZ, D. F. M. On the effect of water currents on the assimilation of aquaticplants. 9 (1896) 76-90.
On the injection of the intercellular spaces occurring in the leaves of Elodea during recoveryfrom plasmolysis. 9 (1897) 272.
DARWIN, F. & PHILLIPS, R. W. On the transpiration-stream in cut branches. 5 (1886) 330-67.See also BATESON, A. & DARWIN; PERTZ & DARWIN.
DARWIN, G. H. On the perturbation of a comet in the neighbourhood of a planet. 7 (1892)314-19.
DARWIN, H. On a self-recording barometer. 5 (1886) 378-80.

Photo: CPS Journals donated to Darwin College

Cambridge Philosophical Society President Dr Claire Barlow is herself a direct descendant of Charles Darwin and took part in 'Cambridge Darwins in Conversation' in which three Cambridge-based direct descendants of Charles Darwin reflected on how family connections have influenced their lives and their scientific careers. Paula Darwin is working for her PhD on obesity; Professor Roger Keynes is a neuroscientist; Dr Claire Barlow is a materials engineer. The conversation was chaired by Dr Alison Pearn, Associate Director of the Darwin Correspondence Project.