And finally Asa Gray again, 7 July 1857.Darwin's reply (quoted above), 18 June. This is an example of the sort of selective reading of Darwin that is fairly common. This was not based on a great deal of observation however, hence it appeared to him to be unscientific. Darwin had speculated that these disjoined species would be found to come from genera which had very few species in total. He said this in the context of a discussion with Asa Gray about a very specific problem – how to account for the existence of species of plants for which there were no, or few, closely related species. Letter to Asa Gray, 18 June ( read the letter)ĭarwin is not making a general comment on his evolutionary theories. ‘ I am quite conscious that my speculations run quite beyond the bounds of true science.’ Darwin really did say this, but it is often quoted out of context to suggest that he had doubts about the validity of his theories (he didn't):
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