Cambridge offers botany course that inspired Darwin after rare archive uncovered

2026-03-28 - 06:09

University’s botanic garden will use study materials created by John Stevens Henslow, the naturalist’s mentor, 200 years ago Plant specimens and teaching materials that inspired Charles Darwin and qualified him to work as a naturalist on HMS Beagle have been unearthed from an archive in Cambridge and will be used for the first time to teach contemporary students about botany. The fragile specimens, ink drawings and watercolour illustrations of plants belonged to Darwin’s teacher and mentor, Prof John Stevens Henslow, and have been stored in Cambridge University’s herbarium for nearly 200 years. Continue reading...