Oops!
I made a minor goof. The other day, I wrote that it was the 157th anniversary of Darwin’s receiving news that there was a vacancy aboard HMS Beagle. I was wrong: it was the 157th anniversary of Henslow’s writing to Darwin with the offer of a place aboard HMS Beagle. Darwin was geologising in North Wales at the time, and didn’t receive the news until 29th August, 1831 (i.e. 157 years ago today).
Glad to have cleared that one up.
Post script: Oops again! Tony Sidaway points out that I got my maths wrong, and that it is actually 177 years since Darwin received Henslow’s letter. I made the mistake in my original piece about Henslow’s letter two years ago. (Double-maths ‘A’ level, don’t you know?)
This is exactly how myths get perpetuated!
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