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Sympathetic science: Charles Darwin, Joseph Hooker and the passions of Victorian naturalists
This essay examines the complex tangle of emotional and scientific attachments that linked Darwin and botanist Joseph Dalton Hooker. Analyzing their roles as husbands, fathers, and novel readers demonstrates that possessing and expressing sympathy was as important for Victorian naturalists as it was for Victorian husbands. Sympathy was a scientific skill that Victorian naturalists regarded as necessary to fully understand the living world; although sympathy became increasingly gendered as feminine over the course of the century, its importance to male naturalists requires us to rethink the ways gender roles were negotiated in Victorian Britain. Botany was, for men like Darwin and Hooker, an acceptably masculine pursuit that nevertheless allowed— and even required—them to be sensitive and sympathetic.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Published version
Journal
Victorian StudiesISSN
0042-5222Publisher
Indiana University PressExternal DOI
Issue
2Volume
51Page range
299-320Pages
22.0Department affiliated with
- History Publications
Notes
Special issue on Charles Darwin.Full text available
- No
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2012-02-06First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2013-10-08Usage metrics
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