At the End of Their Days

Abstract

Those who survived from the generation of pioneer naturalists were now old men. Charles Darwin, in his seventies, had become the venerable and respected patriarch of the scientific establishment. Darwin’s curiosity and mental agility remained undiminished. His last book, the unlikely blockbuster The Formation of Vegetable Mould through the Action of Worms (1881), may appear an unworthy topic for so illustrious a mind. But his research fit his view that small actions, accumulated over vast time, changed the world, as the geological changes he witnessed during the 1835 Concepción earthquake proved. Still, Darwin knew that not all readers would rush to buy a tome on worms. The son of his long-time publisher, John Murray, remembered the day that Darwin, manuscript in hand, told Murray, “Here is a work which has occupied me for many years and interested me much. I fear the subject of it will not attract the public, but will you publish it for me?” Murray responded, “It always gives me great pleasure and hope to hear an author speak of his work thus. What is the subject?” Darwin responded, “Earthworms.” Not only was the book his most popular by far, with six editions in less than a year, but he found himself recipient of letters from the public, sharing worm experiences and reflections.¹ Perhaps for a man nearing the end of his days, and for a man who believed life on earth was all there was, sympathetic study of worms offered comfort.