ESHS/HSS Annual Meeting

From private sketch to public icon: the rise of Darwin’s “I think” diagram

• In Event: Reappraising Three Iconic Images in the History of Science

English Abstract

Charles Darwin’s “I think” diagram today is iconic of him and his thinking. Often referred to as Darwin’s “first tree of life,” the diagram plays a central role in historical understandings of the development of Darwin’s theory of common descent and natural selection. More notably, though, the “I think” diagram is an icon in popular culture: it figures on a shocking amount of Darwin-related paraphernalia, from t-shirts, to pacifiers, to lego figurines. Indeed, it is so iconic that it has become a typical tattoo for Darwin fanatics.
But, the diagram’s iconic status is relatively new. Although Darwin sketched the diagram during the summer of 1837, it remained hidden in Notebook B for over one hundred years. It was only in 1959, prompted by the centennial celebrations of the Origin of Species, that the earliest transcriptions of Darwin’s notebooks, including the diagram, were published. After these publications, the “I think” diagram’s popularity grew somewhat slowly. Its growth accelerated in the late 1990s and early 2000s and came to a head in 2009 – the year which marked the bicentennial of Darwin’s life and the sesquicentennial of the Origin’s publication. Commemorations in 2009 came in a vast variety of forms across the globe: the sheer extent of the celebrations resulted in an abundance of Darwin-related products and productions, many of which featured the “I think” diagram prominently. By exploring the changing values for Darwin, his celebrity, and science leading up to and during the bicentennial, with reference to authenticity and atheism, this paper will argue that we can pinpoint 2009 as the cultural moment which firmly secured the diagram’s iconic status.

Author

• Elizabeth Schulz, University of Leeds