ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

Lecturing from the Cape to Cairo: George Darwin and the Dissemination of Knowledge During the BAAS Expedition to Africa in 1905

• In Event: Scientific Travel in Colonial Contexts: Logistics, Politics and Practices

English Abstract

On Tuesday 12th September 1905 George Howard Darwin (1845–1912), son of the famous naturalist, officially opened the Victoria Falls Bridge over the Zambezi river. One of the most important pieces of railway infrastructure in Africa, Darwin opened this bridge in his capacity as the President of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BAAS). Examining the BAAS meeting in Africa that took place at different locations across the continent between August and October 1905, this talk explores Darwin’s approaches to disseminating research through lectures and publications while analysing the different reactions these received. An authority on different forms of oceanic, subterranean and solar tides, Darwin travelled with the main BAAS party, his wife Maud du Puy who was originally from Philadelphia, and son, Charles Galton Darwin, on a trip that encompassed the full length of the African continent by road, rail and ship. Darwin gave numerous lectures and addresses with many being reported in the local press. Some inspired accounts of Darwin’s work and presentation style—he was followed by several poets whose satirical verse appeared in local newspapers between the Cape and Cairo. Through analysing Darwin’s approaches to disseminating scientific information and the various reactions to this during the BAAS expedition, this talk shows how science was communicated and received in a region recovering from one of the most traumatic colonial wars in history while being on the cusp of self-government.

Author

• Edwin Rose, University of Leeds