It is indeed surpirsing to know this side of Darwins scientific life, thanks for sharing. Hopefuly more woman in technical field will feel inspired by this history.
Great thoughts here - and I do believe it's important to study historical figures such as Darwin to discover a more nuanced and complex history. However, it is important to note that while Darwin's private thoughts may be geared more toward supporting women, his public works and comments are far-reaching, and still have influence today. Additionally, although supportive, it seems like many of these correspondences with women indicate that while Darwin encouraged women to pursue science, he still viewed women as delicate, aesthetic, and domestic. Perhaps, to follow his general belief that women are lesser, he supported women in what he might have deemed as lesser sciences (such as something more aesthetic like botany). Just my current thoughts from this video. Great conclusions afterward! The fight for equality remains.
Everything considered, I think it was unfair of my college history text to list Darwin as anti-feminist. He was no feminist, certainly, but he was not anti-feminist either judging by his behavior. And even looking at what he said in The Descent of Man, it basically comes down to saying it is *probable*, not certain, that men and women have inherently different brains, and the female intellect is limited in that way. Today, with more information available, that would be an ignorant thing to say. However, given how little was known about human neurology at the time, that doesn't sound like such an extreme or harsh position to me. Darwin was able to admit when he was wrong about something and accept other possibilities if there was any support for them. So I think he would have been receptive to different biological evidence in regards to gender equality, had it been available. He merely reflected what was the consensus of the time; there was really no reason not to. And after all the controversy over The Origin, he probably didn't need to give the impression that he was trying to be sensational.
