author
Sir Francis Darwin
1848–1925
A botanist with a sharp eye for how plants move and respond, he helped bring experimental rigor to plant science and also preserved part of Charles Darwin’s legacy for later readers. His work links the Darwin family story with some of the most careful botanical research of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
3 Audiobooks
The Power of Movement in Plants
by Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Darwin
Rustic Sounds, and Other Studies in Literature and Natural History
by Sir Francis Darwin
Springtime and Other Essays
by Sir Francis Darwin
About the author
Born on August 16, 1848, at Down House in Kent, he was the third son of Charles and Emma Darwin. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, and later trained in medicine at St George’s Hospital, but he did not go into medical practice. Instead, he turned to botany and became one of the leading plant scientists of his generation.
Much of his research focused on how plants respond to light and other stimuli. He worked closely with his father on botanical investigations and later built an important career of his own at Cambridge, where he became known for careful experiments in plant physiology. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society and was later knighted.
He also played a major part in shaping how the world read Charles Darwin, editing letters and autobiographical material that helped preserve the family and scientific history around him. He died in Cambridge on September 19, 1925, remembered both for his own scientific work and for the role he played in carrying the Darwin tradition into a new generation.