Transcript William Charles Wells

William Charles Wells
(W C Wells)
1757 – 1817
No photo exists….
Early History
• Scottish heritage, born Charleston,SC
• Returned to Dumfries,
• Scotland 1768
• Trained at University of Edinburgh
• Trained in medicine at Leyden–1780- research on the
cause of the common ‘Cold’- returned to Scotland and
published this body of research
Early History
• 1781 Oversaw brother’s property in SC, allowed family reconciliation in UK.
• Traveled to Florida in 1782 and began a newspaper. ‘The East Florida
Gazette’
• Returned to Charleston SC and landed in jail (~ 3 mo) over family’s wrong
doing
• American Revolution 1775-1783
• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal... that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are
Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
• 1784 After almost 4 yrs in US, returned to UK after treaty signed with Great
Britain, Treaty of Paris signed September 1783 ack. US as an independent
nation!
• Neglected studies while in US but embraced scholarly activity once return to
UK.
Professional Accomplishments
• Physician with a modest practice
• Philosopher
• Stroke survivor
• Printer, book seller, merchant
• Corresponded with Erasmus Darwin (Charles's
grandfather) on issues of science and philosophy
Scholarly scientific works
• 1792 Essay: Single vision with two eyes: together
with experiments and observations on several
subjects in optics ~ stimuli on eye muscles
• A series of essays read before Royal Society in
London 1813
• 1814 elected Fellow of Royal Society AND
awarded a Rumford Medal for his ‘Essay on Dew’
Scholarly scientific works
• 1818 Essay: An account of a female of the white
race…part of whose skin resembles that of a
negro, with some observations on the cause of
the differences in colour and form between the
white and the negro races of man
• Later portion referred to natural selection
• Concluding with a memoir on his life that was
published after his death at the end of this essay
Scholarly Novel Ideas
• Wells assumed a biological revolution had occurred
of the human species
• Principle of Natural Selection was a struggle for
existence and survival of the fittest.
• Charles Darwin’s was unaware of Wells work
initially, but acknowledged the idea was first put
forth by Wells 50 years earlier in 4th edition on the
Origin of Species published in 1866
Well’s quote
• "[What was done for animals artificially] seems to be
done with equal efficiency, though more slowly, by
nature, in the formation of varieties of mankind, fitted for
the country which they inhabit. Of the accidental varieties
of man, which would occur among the first scattered
inhabitants, some one would be better fitted than the
others to bear the diseases of the country. This race
would multiply while the others would decrease, and as
the darkest would be the best fitted for the [African]
climate, at length [they would] become the most
prevalent, if not the only race."
Scholarly Novel Ideas
• Principle of Natural Selection was placed in the
context of only skin color
• Also noted artificial selection was different from
natural selection ~ human skin color
•
However, Darwin and Wallace thought the idea
was universal and explained much of what they had
observed on their travels.
Other writings by Wells: Transactions of a Society
for the Promotion of Medical and Chirurgical
Knowledge 1811-12:
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Observations on Erysipelas.
An instance of an entire want of hair in the human body.
Observations on the dropsy which succeeds Scarlet Fever.
A case of Tetanus, with observations on the disease.
A case of aneurism of the Aorta, communicating with the Pulmonary
artery.
A case of considerable enlargement of the Cœcum and Colon.
A case of extensive Gangrene of the cellular nembrane between the
muscles and skin of the neck and chest.
On rheumatism of the heart.
On the presence of the red matter and serum of the blood in the urine of
dropsy, which has not originated in Scarlet Fever.
Observations on Pulmonary Consumption and intermittent fever, chiefly
as diseases opposed to each other; with an attempt to arrange several
other diseases, according to the alliance or opposition which exists
between them, and one or other of the two former.
Summary
William C. Wells
• Received Rumford Medal – optics research and
philosophy
• Differentiated between artificial selection and natural
selection
• Primary example of natural selection – limited to human
skin color
• Wrote numerous articles on medical conditions
• Darwin acknowleged his contribution in 4th edition of
Origins…(1866), but no photo of him exists today……
References
• http://books.google.com/books?id=Epyc1v7SrAcC&pg=PA85&lpg=P
A85&dq=W+C+Wells&source=web&ots=tNjLVH15rh&sig=Ew0a_Nf
Rzk66E1cDxOMIUX03xXo&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=
8&ct=result
(The Genius of Erasmus Darwin Christopher Upham Murray Smith,
Robert Arnott)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Charles_Wells
• http://web2.ccpl.org/prvEmployees/HTML/scienceproject/ScienceWa
lk/William%20Wells.html
• http://www.biologie.uni-hamburg.de/b-online/e36/36a.htm
• Two Essays: Upon single vision with two eyes and Essays On Dew
(pg 152, 177) and Part of whose Skin resembles a Negro and a
Memoir. 1818. London England
http://books.google.com/books?id=cuZHAAAAIAAJ&printsec=frontc
over&dq=William+Charles+Wells&client=firefox-a#PPR5,M1