Access

Correspondence

Nature 413, 669 (18 October 2001) | doi:10.1038/35099725

Owen was right, as Darwin's work continues

Jacob W. Gruber1

  1. Department of Anthropology, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122, USA
Top

Tribute to Darwin was not a veiled attack but a genuine expression of hope for the future.

In his Words essay "Owen's Parthian shot" (Nature 412, 123; 2001), Kevin Padian discusses a letter from Richard Owen to Spencer Walpole, a politically important member of the British Museum's Board of Trustees, shortly after Charles Darwin's death in 1882. Owen had been asked whether Darwin's scientific accomplishments merited a statue in the new museum.