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Charles Darwin Blue Plaque on Gower Street London WC1 | ProfJoeCain

Darwin in London

During research concerning Charles Darwin and Emma Darwin’s life at number 12 Upper Gower Street, London, I identified several errors and vagaries in biographical material found in standard reference works. This note communicates corrections and […]

The anatomist overtaken by the watch carrying off Miss Watts in a hamper, caricature by William Austin, 1773

London’s Body-Snatching Business of the Resurrection Men Exposed, 1825

In Britain, body-snatching was a cloak-and-dagger business. It also was corrupt. When her husband was arrested, tried, and executed for crimes associated with body-snatching, Ann Millard sought revenge. To her mind, local officials were complicit […]

Euston Road at corner of former Euston Grove, showing bus entrance to Euston Station, 2013.

Euston Grove – History of a London Street NW1

Today, Euston Grove, London NW1 is little more than a roundabout for buses outside Euston Rail Station. Its most noticable feature is Reginald Wynn Owen’s arresting memorial to railway men and women lost in war. One […]

Neo-classical screen at London Terminus at Euston Grove, from Bourne (1839) Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway (London: Ackermann and Co.).

Bourne’s Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway (1839)

John Cooke Bourne’s lithograph of Euston Arch and the neo-classical screen in from of the Euston Grove terminus for the railway was published among his Drawings of the London and Birmingham Railway (1839) (British Library […]

Music of the Stars – Live Performance Celebrating History of Astronomy

In May 2011, Dr Silvia De Bianchi organised the workshop, “The Harmony of the Sphere: Kant and Herschel on the universe and the Astronomical Phenomena” at UCL. This brought together research on Kant, Herschel, and astronomy. […]

Grave of Vice-Admiral Robert Fitzroy, Upper Norwood, London

Robert Fitzroy is buried in Upper Norwood Cemetery (photographs)

Robert Fitzroy (5 July 1805 – 30 April 1865) is buried in the church yard of All Saints Church, Upper Norwood, London. The memorial was restored in 1997. At the time of his death, he lived […]

Wallis's 1821 Guide for Strangers through London, showing Euston Grove and Euston Square

Wallis (1813-1841) Guide for Strangers through London

Edward Wallis produced a Guide for Strangers through London that became an essential tool for visitors to London. Successive editions (1813, 1821, 1826, 1841) allow the historian to trace the growth of many parts of the city, […]

Charles Darwin's Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (Penguin Classics), 1890 second edition, edited by Professor Joe Cain and Dr Sharon Messenger ISBN 9780141439440

Charles Darwin – Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals (1890 second edition)

First published in 1872, The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals was a book at the very heart of Charles Darwin‘s research interests – a central pillar of his ‘human’ series. This book […]

Three snouters: Archirrhinos haeckelii, Rhinolimacius conchicauda, Nasobema lyricum (Order Rhinogradentia), from Stumpke (1961).

Snouters, by Harald Stumpke (actually, Gerolf Steiner)

Every scientific discipline has inside jokes. Why? Because they perform social or intellectual work. In this post, Professor Joe Cain links jokelore to his project on one of biology’s most famous jokes, the Rhinogradentia, or […]

How Extremely Stupid: Source for Huxley’s Famous Quote

When asked about the Origin of Species and the theory of natural selection, Thomas Henry Huxley told friends, “how extremely stupid not to have thought of that”. This is well-known folklore, and much has been […]

Professor Joe Cain 2026