Darwin notebooks missing for 20 years returned to Cambridge
May 9, 2022
History is a very important part of our everyday lives. New things are always being dug up and found that give us a deeper understanding of our history. History revolves around our lives, the right to vote, women’s suffrage, and the Declaration of Independence. These things are part of our daily lives and our history. History made our country what it is today. However, there are people that do not take history seriously and don’t respect it as they should.
According to Jill Lawless Associated Press from ABC News, Charles Darwin’s notebooks have finally been returned. Charles Darwin’s notebooks had been stolen 20 years ago and have finally reappeared after two decades. As of last week, the notebooks had mysteriously returned to Cambridge University’s library in a gift bag to the librarian wishing her a happy Easter.
The notebooks, which include the 19th-century scientist’s famous 1837 “Tree of Life” sketch, went missing in 2001 after being removed for photographing. At the time, staff believed that they might have accidentally misplaced the book. When they failed to find the notebooks, the notebooks were reported stolen to police in October 2020. Local detectives notified the global police organization, Interpol, and launched an international hunt for the notebooks.
Darwin filled the notebooks with ideas shortly after returning from his voyage around the world on HMS Beagle, developing ideas that would bloom into his landmark work on evolution, “On the Origin of Species.” Darwin’s ideas were evolutionary and a very important part of our history.
With Charles Darwin’s notebooks now returned to their rightful place at Cambridge University’s library, everyone has finally found peace. However, no one knows who took the notebooks in the first place. It’s still an unsolved mystery that the police are still looking into today. Who would take historical notebooks for two decades? Why have they been returned now all of the sudden? And what were they taken for?
