---

About Dr John van Wyhe

John van Wyhe is a historian of science at the National University of Singapore and the founder and Director of Darwin Online– probably the most comprehensive scholarly website on any historical person. He has published 17 books and lectures and broadcasts around the world.
His research has resolved long-standing mysteries and myths such as Darwin’s so-called delay, when Darwin received Wallace’s evolution essay, whether Darwin was the naturalist on the Beagle, where the legend of Darwin’s finches comes from, whether Darwin lost his faith because his daughter Annie died, whether Wallace went to the Amazon to solve “the problem of the origin of species”, the myth of Darwin’s bodysnatchers and shown that T.H. Huxley was not known as “Darwin’s bulldog” as thousands of publications have claimed for a century. Van Wyhe curated the restoration of Darwin’s rooms at Christ’s College [here & here] and the largest exhibition ever on Wallace. He has led expeditions to Indonesia to examine nature conservation and re-discovered a snake thought locally extinct for 172 years. He is a member of the British Society for the History of Science, a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London and University Professorial Fellow of Charles Darwin University, etc.

His book, Darwin: A Companion, has been called “the most amazing book on Darwin ever published”. It includes thousands of new discoveries and the most extensive iconography of any historical figure in science. See an illustrated version of his Complete photographs of Darwin (PDF), with 12 newly discovered photographs of Darwin. Van Wyhe’s book Dispelling the Darkness overturns the traditional story of Darwin and Wallace based on the most in-depth research programme ever on those events and Wallace in Southeast Asia including editing Wallace Online, Wallace’s voyage letters and the definitive edition of his notebooks. As Janet Browne has written, “the story of Wallace will never be the same again.” See Prestige magazine, A day in the life, Inside NUS, YouTube, etc.

Publications

Books

Charles Darwin: Justice of the peace. The complete records (1857-1882). 2021. (With Christine Chua) (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kindle, Free PDF)

Darwin: A companion. Building on the work of R. B. Freeman. With iconographies by John van Wyhe. WSP, 2021. Amazon.com (Kindle), Amazon.co.uk (Kindle), in Singapore.

Charles Darwin: The compact guide. Welbeck, 2020. (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk)On the origin of species. The science classic. With an introduction by John van Wyhe. Capstone/Wiley, 2020. (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kindle) [Introduction available free in Darwin Online: Text]

Wanderlust: The amazing Ida Pfeiffer. The first female tourist. NUS Press, 2019. (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Kobo [ebook])The conservation expeditions 2016-2018. Tembusu College, 2019. (Free PDF, Kindle)

Darwin: The man, his great voyage, and his theory of evolution. Natural History Museum & A. Deutsch, 2018. (Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com, translated into: French, Spanish, Czech, Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese and Italian)

Charles Darwin: the man, his great voyage, and his theory of evolution. Pioneers of Science. New York: Rosen, 2022 (paperback). (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk)

The Annotated Malay Archipelago by Alfred Russel Wallace. Edited [annotated and introduced] by John van Wyhe. NUS Press, 2015. (Amazon)

Charles Darwin in Cambridge: The most joyful years. WSP, 2014. (Hardcover, paperback, Kindle)

Dispelling the Darkness: Voyage in the Malay Archipelago and the discovery of evolution by Wallace and Darwin. WSP, 2013. (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, paperback, Kindle)

Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago. Foreword by Sir David Attenborough. OUP, 2013. (Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, paperback, Kindle)

Charles Darwin’s shorter publications 1829-1883. CUP, 2009. (Amazon, Kindle)

Charles Darwin’s notebooks from the voyage of the Beagle. CUP, 2009. (Amazon,
Foreword, Introduction, Chronological register, Expedition equipment, Bibliography & Index in Free PDF)

Darwin in Cambridge. Christ’s College, 2009. (Free PDF)

Darwin. A. Deutsch, 2008/National Geographic, 2009. (Amazon: UK, USA, French, Spanish)

Combe’s Constitution of man, and nineteenth-century responses. Thoemmes, 2004, 3 vols. (Amazon)

Phrenology and the origins of Victorian scientific naturalism. Ashgate, 2004. (Amazon);

Routledge, 2017 (paperback & hardback Amazon, Kindle)Wallace Online 2012-.The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online 2002-.The History of Phrenology on the Web 1999-.

Scholarly articles and book chapters

2021 Charles Darwin on Tahiti. Bulletin de la Société des Études Océaniennes, no. 355 (Sept./Dec.): 106-170. [In English & French] PDF

2021 Johann Gaspar Spurzheim: The St. Paul of phrenology. In Eling & Finger eds., Gall, Spurzheim, and the phrenological movement: insights and perspectives. Routledge, pp. 111-22.

2020 A.R. Wallace in the light of historical method. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 103: 89-95.

2020 Snakes, tigers and cannibals: Ida Pfeiffer’s travels in Southeast Asia. Biblioasia 15, issue 4 (Jan.-Mar.): 20-27.

2019 Johann Gaspar Spurzheim: The St. Paul of phrenology. Journal of the History of the Neurosciences. 29:1: 5-16.

2019 Rediscovery of the lined blind snake in Singapore. Singapore Biodiversity Records (31 Oct.): 133-4.

2019 Why there was no ‘Darwin’s bulldog’: Thomas Henry Huxley’s famous nickname. The Linnean, 35(1) (Apr.): 26-30.

2018 A price list of birds collected by Alfred Russel Wallace inserted in The Ibis of 1863. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists’ Club 138 (4): 335-45, fig. 1 (with Kees Rookmaaker).

2018 Wallace’s help: the many people who aided A. R. Wallace in the Malay Archipelago. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society (June) 91, part 1, number 314: 41-68.

2018 Charles Darwin and the dentists. Journal of the History of Dentistry. 66, no. 1: 25-35 (with John Hayman).

2017 Darwin’s discovery. In: How evolution explains everything about me: From Darwin’s brilliant idea to today’s epic theory. New Scientist. (Amazon; Audiobook of van Wyhe’s chapter)

2016, 12 Darwin’s body-snatchers? Endeavour 41, no. 1: 29-31.

2016, 12 The impact of A. R. Wallace’s Sarawak Law paper reassessed. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences. 60 (Dec.): 56-66.

2016, 10 A rough draft of A. R. Wallace’s “Sarawak law” paper. Archives of natural history 43.2: 285-93.

2016, 07.17 Darwin’s discovery: The remarkable history of evolution. New scientist: 5-39.

2016 The Darwin-Wallace theory of evolution. Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Biology. Elsevier, vol. 1: 394-8.

2015 Annotating Wallace’s Malay Archipelago. Pulse (Dec.): 4-5.

2015 The illustrations in A.R. Wallace’s Malay archipelago (1869) and in a much-enhanced French translation in Le Tour du Monde (1870–1873). Archives of Natural History 42 (2): 358-62, figs. 1-4 (with Kees Rookmaaker).

2015 “I am Ali Wallace”: The Malay assistant of Alfred Russel Wallace. Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Society 88, Part 1, No. 308 (June): 3-31.

2015 Going the whole orang: Darwin, Wallace and the natural history of orangutans. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences.2014 A delicate adjustment: Wallace and Bates on the Amazon and “the problem of the origin of species”. Journal of the History of Biology 47, issue 4: 627-59.

2014 Wallace in Singapore. In T. Barnard ed. Nature contained: Environmental histories of Singapore. NUS Press, pp. 85-109.2013 ‘”my appointment received the sanction of the Admiralty”: Why Charles Darwin really was the naturalist on HMS Beagle‘. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences 44, issue 3, (Sept.): 316-26.

2013 Alfred Russel Wallace. In Ruse ed. The Cambridge encyclopedia of Darwin and evolutionary thought. CUP, pp. 165-72.

2013 Wallace’s mystery flycatcher. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 61 (1): 1-5, figs. 1-3 (with Kees Rookmaaker).

2012 Correcting the Darwin myths. In The Origin of Darwinism: Charles Darwin and The Origin of Species. Guardian Books.

2012 In Alfred Russel Wallace’s Shadow: His forgotten assistant, Charles Allen (1839-1892). Journal of the Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society 85, part 2, no. 303: 17-54 (with Kees Rookmaaker).

2012 The Annie Darwin hypothesis: Did the death of his daughter cause Darwin to “give up Christianity”? Centaurus 54: 1-19 (with Mark Pallen).

2012 Wallace, Darwin and Southeast Asia: the real field site of evolution. In Gower et al. eds. Biotic evolution and environmental change in Southeast Asia. CUP, pp. 16-31.

2012 Where do Darwin’s finches come from? The Evolutionary Review 3, 1: 185-95.

2012 A new theory to explain the receipt of Wallace’s Ternate Essay by Darwin in 1858. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (with Kees Rookmaaker).

2012 Charles Darwin’s life and work 200 years on. (Dis)Entangling Darwin: cross-disciplinary reflections on the man and his legacy. Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp. 11-24.

2012 John Tweedie and Charles Darwin in Buenos Aires. Notes and records of the Royal Society (with Jeff Ollerton & Gordon Chancellor).2011 Was Charles Darwin an atheist? The public domain review (28 July).

2011 Charles Darwin: A life of discovery. In Grzimek’s animal life, evolution. Gale, pp. 31-44 (with Angus Carroll).

2010 ‘Almighty God! what a wonderful discovery!’: Did Charles Darwin really believe life came from space? Endeavour 34, no. 3, (Sept.): 95-103.

2010 Johan Gaspar Spurzheim. Neue Deutsche Biographie 24: 770-1.

2010 Commemorating Charles Darwin. The Evolutionary Review 1, no. 1 (Feb.): 42-7.

2010 Darwin’s Edinburgh diary. (and) Darwin’s major works and book chapters. In J. Derry ed., Darwin in Scotland: Edinburgh, evolution and enlightenment. Whittles Publishing, pp. 111-15, 118-20, 161-3.

2009 Charles Darwin’s Cambridge life 1828-1831. Journal of Cambridge studies 4 (4) (Dec.): 2-13.

2009 Darwin Online and the evolution of the Darwin industry. History of Science 47 (4) no. 158: 459-76.

2009 Charles Darwin 1809 – 2009. The International Journal of Biochemistry & Cell Biology 41: 251-3.

2009 Darwin Online. Science progress 92, part 3/4, pp. 485-6.

2008 ‘Darwin, su vida’ in Desde la memoria: Historia, medicina y ciencia en torno a…Darwin Fundación de Ciencias de la Salud Darwin. Madrid, pp. 7-19.

2007 The diffusion of phrenology through public lecturing. In A. Fyfe & B. Lightman eds., Science in the marketplace: nineteenth-century sites and experiences. Chicago: University Press, pp. 60-96.

2007 Mind the gap: Did Darwin avoid publishing his theory for many years? Notes and Records of the Royal Society 61: 177-205.

2004 Was phrenology a reform science? Towards a new generalization for phrenology. History of Science xlii: 313-31.

2003 George Combe’s Constitution of man and the law of hereditary descent. A cultural history of heredity II, Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, preprint series, pp. 165-74.

2002 The authority of human nature: the Schädellehre of Franz Joseph Gall. British Journal for the History of Science (March): 17-42.

Other shorter publications

2020, 05.21 Raffles as a Naturalist. Humanist Society (Singapore).
2018, 10.25 How many people helped Alfred Russel Wallace? The Conversation.
2018, 10.25 Berapa orang yang membantu Alfred Wallace kumpulkan spesimen di Nusantara? The Conversation.
2018, Dr John’s journals. STEER Sulawesi 2018.
2017, 11.24 The book that changed the world. Straits Times, B16.
2017, 08.02 ‘Radical’ new biography of Darwin is unreliable and inaccurate. New Scientist, p. 46.
2017, 10.17 ‘I am Ali Wallace’, the Malay assistant of Alfred Russel Wallace: an excerpt. The Conversation.
2017, 10.16 Peran Ali Wallace di balik ekspedisi Alfred Wallace di Asia Tenggara. The Conversation.
2017, 06.22 Into the heart of Borneo. NUS News.
2016, 06.02 Up close with sharks and dragons. NUS News.
2015, 01-03 Darwin in Cambridge & Wallace in the Malay archipelago. Biblioasia 10 (4): 50-55.
2015, Darwin’s Beagle Library. FoS Research Newsletter.
2014, 11.25 Is there a history of science? Yes… and it works. Asian Scientist.
2014 [Review of] Darwin: Portrait of a Genius. By Paul Johnson. The Historian 76 (2): 443-4.
2013 Will the real Alfred Russel Wallace please stand up? OUPblog
2013 Darwin did not cheat Wallace out of his rightful place in history. The Guardian (9 August).
2013 Alas, poor Wallace. teleskopos History of science – Museums (7 August)
2013 Secularism in Singapore. Rationalist Association (with Huifen Zheng)
2012 Darwin in translation. American Philosophical Society Darwin-Valentine collection.
2012 Solving the Darwin-Wallace mystery. Faculty of Science Research newsletter 17, no. 1 (June): 8-9.
2012 The mail route of Wallace’s Ternate essay. Newsletter of the Society for the History of Natural History 103: 5-6 (with Kees Rookmaaker).
2011 [Review of] Smith & Beccaloni eds. Natural selection and beyond: the intellectual legacy of Alfred Russel Wallace. Nuncius. Journal of the Material and Visual History of Science
2011 [Review of] Pattison, Darwins of Shrewsbury and Dixon and Radick, Darwin in Ilkley. British Journal for the History of Science 467-468.
2010 Evolutionary steps [Review of Grant and Esthes, Darwin in Galápagos]. Galapagos news (spring summer) no. 30, p. 14.
2010 What 1835 Chile quake taught Darwin. CNN Opinion
2009 Essential reading: Charles Darwin. BBC History Magazine 10, No. 9 (September): 90.
2009 [Review of] The voyage of the Beagle by James Taylor. What I did on holiday. BBC History Magazine 10, No. 3: 70.
2009 Darwin vs God. BBC History Magazine 10, no. 1 (Jan.): 26-31. [cover story]
2009 Darwin and music. Cambridge Music Festival 2009: Music and Evolution, pp. 14, 19.
2009 Charles Darwin. brief notes. [Cambridge: Christ’s College] PDF A2974
2009 Charles Darwin’s College Rooms. [Cambridge: Christ’s College] PDF A2975
2009 Darwin’s theory is still a hot debate. Cambridge Evening News (3 Feb.)
2009 Darwin and evolution: what does it matter? Mens’ Health Magazine.
2008 Charles Darwin’s Student Room. Christ’s College newsletter (Oct.): 8-14.
2008 A reception study in the making? The unprecedented reception of Darwin’s private papers online. Viewpoint: Newsletter of the British Society for the History of Science no. 86 (June): 5.
2008 Darwin Online (reply to Jonathan Smith). Journal of Victorian Culture 13, 1, (Spring): 119-120.
2008 Dinner with Darwin. New Humanist Magazine (Jan.) 123, No. 1, pp. 15–17.
2008 [Review of] The correspondence of Charles Darwin, 15. Isis (Mar.): 99(1): 196-7.
2008 Misconceptions. The Guardian [Saturday pamphlet] (9 Feb.).
2007 A Darwin manuscript at Christ’s College, Christ’s College Magazine no. 232, pp. 66-8.
2007 Darwin discovery [cheque at Christ’s College] Viewpoint: Newsletter of the British Society for the History of Science no. 82 (Feb.): 13.
2007 The launch and reception of Darwin Online. Notes and Records of the Royal Society 61: 63-5. (With Antranig Basman)
2007 [Review of] Chambers, Bones of contention: The fossil that shook science. Viewpoint: Newsletter of the British Society for the History of Science, 12-13.
2006 Phrenology. In Merriman & Winter eds. Encyclopedia of Europe: 1789-1918. New York: Scribner.
2006 The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. D-Lib Magazine (Dec.) 12, 12.
2006 [Review of] Michael Hagner, Geniale Gehirne. Isis 97 (1).
2006 A new life online. Endeavour 30, no. 2, p. 119.
2006 The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. Notes and Records of the Royal Society 60: 87-9.
2006 The history of science is dead. Long live the history of science! Viewpoint: Newsletter of the British Society for the History of Science No. 80 (Jun.).
2005 Web news: The complete work of Charles Darwin online. British Society for the History of Science Newsletter no. 78 (October): 17-18.
2005 Phrenology. Scribner’s Encyclopedia of Europe 1789-1914.
2005 Entries on: Cultural Evolution, Phrenology & Psychological Materialism. Encylopedia of British Philosophy.
2005 [Review of] Finger, Origins of Neuroscience. British Journal for the History of Science 38 (Jun.): 222-3.
2005 [review of] A Reason for Everything: Natural Selection and the English Imagination. by Marek Kohn. Human Nature Review 5: 1-4.
2005 The descent of words: Evolutionary thinking 1780-1880. Endeavour 29: 94-100.
2004 Alfred Russel Wallace: in a court of his own. Evolution 58, No. 12 (Dec.): 2840-2841.
2004 Being of my opinion about humans [review of] Moore, Being me: what it means to be human. Endeavour 28, 4 (Dec.): 141-2.
2004 [Twelve entries in] B. Lightman ed., Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists. 4 vols. Bristol: Thoemmes.
2003 Science vs. religion or my gods are better than your gods? The controversies over Combe’s Constitution of Man 1826-60. Intellectual News 11/12: 24-31.
2003 [Various entries] Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Scientists. Bristol: Thoemmes.
2003 Charles Darwin on variation under nature. Green Trend Magazine (India).
2003 Review of Shermer, In Darwin’s Shadow: The life and science of Alfred Russel Wallace. Human Nature Review 3: 166-8.
2002 George Combe. The Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century British Philosophers. Bristol: Thoemmes, pp. 271-2.
2002 Phrenology. Skeptic’s Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. Abc-Clio, vol. 1, pp. 170-2.

Online publications

Thousands of contributions in Darwin Online cannot be listed here, such as introductions, c. 9,000 editorial notes, the editing and updating of the Freeman Bibliographical Database and Darwin Online Manuscript Catalogue etc.

2023, 11.24 The draft of Origin of species.
2023, 10 An early draft of the introduction to Origin? Introduction.
2023, 08 Introduction and catalogue of the J.C. Simpson collection
2023, 07 “On The Protection of Leaves from Water”: Charles Darwin’s unpublished last book. Introduction.
2023, 04 Darwin’s funeral.
2023, 02 The Complete Photographs of Darwin.
2023 Obituaries [of Charles Darwin].
2023 Chua, Christine & John van Wyhe. Emma Darwin’s letters to her son Francis, 1877-1885.
2023 Chua, Christine & John van Wyhe. Emma Darwin’s letters to her son George, 1881-1883.
2023 Chua, Christine & John van Wyhe. Family letters to William Erasmus Darwin, 1856-1897.
2022, 11. Signed autograph paragraph from Origin 3d ed. for Hermann Kindt. Text & image.
2022, 09 Publications communicated by Darwin.
2022, 07 Emma Darwin’s letters to her son George, 1881-1883. Emma Darwin’s letters to her son George. Introduction by Christine Chua & John van Wyhe.
2022, 06 A previously unrecognised draft of Darwin’s Historical sketch for Origin of species. Text & image.
2022 Charles Darwin Ateist miydi? [Turkish translation of Was Charles Darwin an atheist?] Trans. by Aydan Eyüpoğlu. sosyalbilimler.org
2021, 11 The reviews of Charles Darwin, introduction.
2020 Christine Chua with assistance from John van Wyhe, Some original sketches of Alfred Russel Wallace in contemporary newspapers.
2015 Darwin in Cambridge & Wallace in the Malay Archipelago. BiblioAsia.
2011 Darwin’s notes on Wallace’s Island life (1880) Text & image
2011 Darwin’s Down House notebook 1.1. Text
2011 1836-7. [Reports of Darwin’s communications read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society 1835-7]. London and Edinburgh philosophical magazine. Text
2011 Online letter to the The History of Science Collections of the University of Oklahoma Libraries.
2010 ‘There is such disputes about…definition of species’ (2.1841) Text & image
2010 ‘Talking with Mr. Strickland = I confess that my theory must necessarily be given up’ (4.1842) Text & image
2010 ‘a sketch of the principal events in my life’. (1866-1875). Text & image
2010 Darwin’s list of fossil wood specimens from the Beagle (transcription)
2010 John van Wyhe on Tahiti. VPRO
2010 Ship’s Journal: John van Wyhe and Anthony in the footsteps of Darwin. VPRO (watch video) (YouTube)
2009 Francis Darwin’s annotated copy of the Origin of Species (1859)
2009 [Memorial of A. R. Wallace for a Civil List Pension]. (1880) CUL-DAR91.95-98
2009 [Outline of the 1842 sketch of species theory].
2009 [Abstract of species theory sent to Asa Gray]. [1857]
2009 Darwin’s student bills at Christ’s College, Cambridge
2009 1909: The first Darwin centenary
2009 ‘Utricularia’ [draft of Insectivorous plants]
2008 Darwin’s Papers & Manuscripts: an introduction.
2008 Charles Darwin’s Papers Online
2008 [Notes on reading Sumner’s Evidence of Christianity]. [c. 1827.]
2008 Comparison of three versions of Darwin’s Queries about expression.
2008 [Emma Darwin’s Reminiscences of Charles Darwin’s last years.]
2008-9 1831-1836 Lecturer’s Book.
2007 [Online research guide] Natural history and biology in the nineteenth century. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.
2007 Freeman, R. B. Charles Darwin: A companion. 2d online ed. compiled by Sue Asscher (edited by John van Wyhe).
2007 Darwin’s notebooks on geology, transmutation, metaphysical enquiries and reading lists
2007 A Darwin manuscript discovered at Christ’s College after a century in darkness (Christ’s College)
2007 Introduction to Darwin Online
2007 Introduction to the Harker Catalogue, Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences.
2007 ‘The position of the bones of Mastodon (?) at Port St Julian is of interest’ (2.1835)
2007 [Emma Darwin’s memo about Darwin’s religious doubts] (c. 2.1839)
2006 Photograph of Charles Darwin by Maull and Polyblank for the Literary and Scientific Portrait Club (1855)
2006 Darwin and Christ’s College
2006-9 Darwin’s Beagle field notebooks. Transcribed and edited by Gordon Chancellor, John van Wyhe & Kees Rookmaaker.
2006 ‘Journal’ (1809-1881). Introduction.
2006 ‘Admissions to Christ College’ [1827]
2006 [University Museum of Zoology accession catalogue, pp. 187-8] (1897)
2006 ‘Admissions 1818-1828’ Introduction to the Admissions books.
2006 ‘Admissions 1815-1852’
2006 ‘Admissions to Christ College’ [1827]
2006 Darwin’s insects in Stephens’ Illustrations of British entomology (1829-32)
2006 Introduction to Darwin’s Catalogue of the appendages and other parts of Cirripedes, mounted as microscopical slides. (1854-5)].
2006 cheque by Charles Darwin ‘to self’ (Union Bank of London) 1872 Introduction
2005 [Photograph of a Robin] Birds of Britain (March).
2005- The Darwin Manuscript Catalogue. The first and most complete union catalogue of Darwin manuscripts and papers ever published.
2005- The Freeman Bibliographical Database. The most complete bibliography of Darwin’s writings ever published.
2002-3 Editor of The Victorian Web. Edited and contributed to section: ‘Victorian science: An overview‘.
British Association for the Advancement of Science
Themes in history of Victorian science
Evolution, progress and natural laws
Science and religion
Sciences of Man
The creation stories of Genesis
Victorian Geology
Bibliography
Charles Babbage (1791-1871)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) gentleman naturalist
Charles Darwin: gentleman naturalist: A biographical sketch
Chronology of life of Charles Darwin
Charles Lyell (1797-1875) gentleman geologist
George Combe (1788-1858) phrenologist & natural philosopher
Georges Cuvier (1769-1832)
John Tyndall (1820-1893)
Louis Agassiz (1807-1873) palaeontologist and systematist
Richard Owen (1804-1892)
Robert Chambers (1802-71)
William Buckland (1784-1856)
William Whewell (1794-1866) gentleman of science
Views of Victorian Cambridge

SCHOLARLY PRESENTATIONS

2023, 11 The history of phrenology. History of Health Sciences, Medical Library Association.
2023, 11 Darwin’s microscopes. History of Health Sciences, Medical Library Association.
2022, 11.03 Wallace according to historical methods. University of Southampton.
2021, 11.23 Darwin and Wallace. University of Southampton.
2021, 09.02 Darwinian fakes and forgeries. Guest lecture at Tembusu College, NUS.
2021, 07.14 Ida Pfeiffer the first female solo traveller and collector. British Society for the History of Science annual conference.
2021, 02.26 Writing through the ages. Tembusu takes a break workshop. Tembusu College, NUS.
2021, 02.17 Keynote lecture: Charles Darwin then and now. Darwin Day 2021. University of Delaware, USA.
2021, 02.03 The history of pamphlets. Fellow’s Tea, Tembusu College, NUS.
2020, 02.15 Wallace in the light of historical method. Wallacea Symposium: Connecting Asia to the Australian Continent. Royal Society of Western Australia & The Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia.
2020, 02.14 In the steps of Alfred Russel Wallace. The making of a documentary. Wallacea Symposium: Connecting Asia to the Australian Continent. Royal Society of Western Australia & The Oceans Institute, University of Western Australia.
2020, 02.07 Keeping time: Changing technologies for measuring time. Fellow’s Tea. Tembusu College, NUS.
2019, 09.25 Topics in Evolution: from the Galapagos to the 21st Century. University of Southampton.
2018 Harvesting Nature: Alfred Russel Wallace as Collector in Southeast Asia. Guest lecture at Yale-NUS College.
2018, 07.09 Featured speaker at STEER Homecoming, NUS.
2017, 07.08 Damning Darwin: the extraordinary evolution of the story of Darwin and Wallace 1858-today. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, University of York.
2017, 09.27 Harvesting Nature: Alfred Russel Wallace as Collector in Southeast Asia. Guest lecture at Yale-NUS College.
2017, 02.08 Moderator: Conversations with humanists. NUS Interfaith Society, NUS.
2016, 10 Keynote lecture: The discovery of deep progress. Victorians like us conference. University of Lisbon, Portugal.
2016, 09.30 Darwin, Wallace and the Sarawak Law. STS Seminar. Asia Research Institute, NUS.
2016, 09.08 Charles Darwin’s sexy barnacles. Work in progress seminar, Tembusu College.
2016, 09.07 tWild gathers with Herpetological Society of Singapore.
2016 Guest lecture: Harvesting Nature: Alfred Russel Wallace as Collector in Southeast Asia. Animals and the city. International Alliance of Research Universities. Global Summer Programme, Tembusu College, NUS.
2016.07.18 Damning Darwin: The extraordinary evolution of the story of Darwin and Wallace 1858-today. Leeds Humanities Research Institute, University of Leeds.
2016.07.29 Harvesting nature: Alfred Russel Wallace as collector in Southeast Asia. NUS.
2015, 08.26 Damning Darwin: How Alfred Russel Wallace became “forgotten”, Work in progress seminar, Tembusu College.
16.10.2014 Alfred Russel Wallace. Guest lecture. School of Architecture and Design, NUS.
04.09.2014 How to write a book, or, The travels of Ida Pfeiffer. Work-in-Progress seminar, Tembusu College, NUS.
07.08.2014 How to bust myths in the history of science. DBS Lab talks, NUS.
03.08.2014 How to account for adaptation naturally. Nature as practice conference. NUS Museum.
23.06.2014 Alfred Russel Wallace: the true story. Science Summer Camp, Faculty of Science, NUS.
22.05.2014 The man who wasn’t Darwin: Re-discovering Alfred Russel Wallace, Aarhus University, Denmark.
20.05.2014 Dispelling the darkness, University of Warwick.
12.05.2014 Digitising Darwin: the pleasures and perils of scholarship published online. Digitising Nightingale; one-day symposium at the Wellcome Trust, London.
24.10.2013 Dispelling the Darkness: The true story of Alfred Russel Wallace and Charles Darwin. University of Birmingham.
22.10.2013 Digitizing Darwin. Centre for the Comparative History of Print, University of Leeds.
22.10.2013 In search of the historical A.R. Wallace. Work in Progress seminar. School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science, University of Leeds.
02.10.2013 In the footsteps of Wallace. Student tea, Tembusu College, NUS.
04.09.2013 On histories of science. Cinnamon College, NUS.
29.08.2013 Forging the origin of species. Bates, Wallace and their voyage to the Amazon. Work-in-progress Seminar, Tembusu College, NUS.
06.03.13 ‘1858 and all that’ The Darwin-Wallace mystery solved. International Symposium “100 years after Wallace” Faculty of Science, National Autonomous University of Mexico.
10.06.12 Wallace in Singapore. Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, Asia Research Institute.
09.27.12 The launch of Wallace Online, Tembusu College, NUS.  
08.30.12 Wallace’s mystery flycatcher at NUS. Work-in-progress Seminar, Tembusu College, NUS.
04.07.12 The Wallace Darwin mystery. Wallace Darwin Science Symposium, Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.
15.11.11 Darwin and orchids. 20th World Orchid Conference, Singapore.
10.03.11 Apocalypse now! Evolution discovered in 1850s South East Asia. Work-in-progress Seminar, Tembusu College, NUS.
16.07.11 1858 and all that: When did Alfred Russel Wallace send his Ternate essay to Charles Darwin? British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Exeter University.
20.04.11 Alfred Russel Wallace and science in Victorian Singapore. Departmental seminar, Department of History, NUS.
18.09.2010 Keynote lecture: Charles Darwin. National Institute of Technology Durgapur, India.
24.07.10 Charles Darwin really was the naturalist on the Beagle. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Aberdeen University.
25.06.10 Private blueprints for public science: the notebooks of Darwin and Wallace. William Henry Fox Talbot: Beyond Photography, CRASSH, University of Cambridge.
11.07.09 In Darwin’s pocket. The Beagle field notebooks. Darwin in the field, Sedgwick Museum, University of Cambridge.
05.07.09 Darwin’s notebooks. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, University of Leicester.
24.06.09 Darwin and the tree of life. Willi Hennig Society Meeting, Singapore Botanic Gardens.
15.05.09 Why aren’t the social sciences Darwinian? Leverhulme Centre for Human Evolutionary Studies. Cambridge University.
04.07.08 “Almighty God! what a wonderful discovery!” Did Charles Darwin really believe life came from outer space?’ British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Oxford University.
26.07.07 Darwin’s delay: another historiographical myth? The International Society for History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Biology, Exeter.
30.06.07 Darwin and the matrix: Darwin Online and future historiography. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Manchester University.
24.04.07 Darwin’s loss of faith. Faraday Institute, University of Cambridge.
26.02.07 Was Darwin afraid to publish? The evidence is clear. Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, Evidence seminar.
11.01.07 Darwin Online. Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, University of Cambridge.
04.12.06 Did Darwin delay? Popular myths about Darwin. Evolution til alle. Aarhus University, Denmark.
07.06 Mind the gap: did Darwin avoid publishing his theory? British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Canterbury University.
10.02.06 Darwin and the Galapagos finches. Darwin Day, Birmingham University.
07.11.06 Darwin in conversation with his critics, Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities.
11.05 Where do Darwin’s finches come from? Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities.
12.09.05 The famous Darwin finches. History of Science Department, Aarhus University, Denmark.
07.05 Darwin’s finches: the evolution of a legend in the history of science. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Leeds University.
04.12.04 Darwin’s finches: the pleasures and perils of science popularisation. Aarhus University, Denmark.
2-3.8.04 The diffusion of phrenology via public lectures: Defusing anti-diffusion in the historiography of science. Popular science: 19th century sites and experiences, York University, Canada.
27.06.04 The descent of words: the content and contexts of evolutionary thinking 1780-1880. British Society for the History of Science annual conference, Liverpool University.
05.03.04 Digitizing Darwin, Research and the internet: the case of the history of science. Maison Française, Oxford University.
18.07.03 Phrenological Controversy: was it between groups or individuals? British Society for the History of Science annual conference, University of York.
20.05.03 Historicizing contextualism: a new perspective for the history of ideas. History of Political Thought Seminar, Trinity College Cambridge.
24.04.03 The ‘diffusion’ of science in the nineteenth century: sloppy metaphor or accurate description? Institutkollokvium ved Institut for Videnskabshistorie, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
01.03 George Combe’s Constitution of man and the law of hereditary descent. A cultural history of heredity, Max Planck Institut für Wissenschaftsgeschichte, Berlin.
27.07.01 Science vs. religion or my gods are better than your gods? The controversies over Combe’s Constitution of Man 1826-60. ‘Quarrels, Polemics and Controversies’, International Society for Intellectual History, Trinity College, Cambridge University.
04.01 Old phrenology and new neuroscience: false accusations? Images of the Mind, Anthropology Department, Goldsmiths College, University of London.
17.03.01 Phrenology: an international science. European conference on physiognomy. École Normale Supérieure, Paris.
27.11.00 Spurzheim: co-founder of phrenology or plagiarist? Cabinet of Natural History (Cambridge Group for the History of Natural History), HPS Cambridge University.
31.01.00 Travels of a Craniologist: Franz Joseph Gall and his European lecture tour 1805-1807. Cabinet of Natural History (Cambridge Group for the History of Natural History), HPS Cambridge University.
12.01.00 “phrenological, which is another word for natural”: Reassessing the British phrenology debates 1815- c. 1830, British Society for the History of Science Conference, HPS Cambridge University.

PUBLIC LECTURES

2023, 12.05 Ida Pfeiffer: the first female tourist- as well as a self-taught naturalist. National Library of Singapore.
2023, 04.19 Wanderlust. Ida Pfeiffer the first female tourist. ArtScience Festival, Anderson Serangoon Junior College, Singapore.
2021, 02.27 Commemorating Charles Darwin. Darwin Day, Humanist Society Singapore.
2020, 10.31 Who Roam The World? Girls! Singapore Writers Festival.
2020, 08.28 The first female tourist: The amazing Ida Pfeiffer. The Asian Civilisations Museum and the Friends of the Museums, Singapore.
2020, 08.26 Wallace’s help: The many people who aided A.R. Wallace in the Malay Archipelago. Usk Civic Society, Wales.
2019, 06.28 Thinking critically with history. Hasanuddin University, Makassar, Indonesia.
2019, 06.27 Writing Wallace’s Malay Archipelago. Makassar International Writers Festival 2019. Makassar, Indonesia.
2019, 02.26 Re-tracing Wallace’s footsteps in Southeast Asia. Anderson Junior College, Singapore.
2019, 02.23 Raffles as naturalist. Darwin Day. Humanist Society (Singapore).
2018, 10.12 The Malay Archipelago. Wallace, Wallacea & Indonesia. Wallacea week 2018. National Library, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2018, 10.11 Wallace’s Malay Archipelago. Wallace, Wallacea & Indonesia. Wallacea week 2018. National Library, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2018, 07.09 Featured speaker at STEER Homecoming, NUS.
2017, 11.25 In search of the historical Wallace. Conversations: Underlying Nature, The ArtScience Museum, Singapore.
2017, 10.17 In the footsteps of Wallace and the natural history of Indonesia. Lazuardi Cordova Global Islamic School, Jakarta.
2017, 10.16 Alfred Russel Wallace: The collector in Southeast Asia. Wallace, Wallacea & Indonesia. Wallacea week 2017. National Library, Jakarta, Indonesia.
2017, 08.31 Ida Pfeiffer: The greatest female traveller and collector, Science café, Singapore.
2017, 03.08 (with Frans de Waal) Being human: ethics, religion and our ancestry. Yale NUS College, Singapore.
2017, 02.27 Wanderlust: The amazing Ida Pfeiffer. Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore.
2016, 08.25 Keynote lecture. Komodo expedition. The conservation conversation. UTown, NUS.
08.06.2016 Charles Darwin’s sexy barnacles. NTU Centre for Contemporary Art Singapore
09.26.2015 In search of the historical Wallace. Science Centre Singapore, NUS Faculty of Science Alumni lecture.
06.20.2015 Keynote lecture. Asian Humanism Conference 2015.
13.05.2015 Who was Ali? Galerie Steph. Singapore.
03.21.2015 Historical myths. TEDxNUS, National University of Singapore.
01.11.2014 The World Before Singapore. Singapore Writers Festival.
31.10.2014 The prospects of a garden city [moderator]. Singapore Writers Festival.
07.31.2014 Darwin and Wallace. National Library of Singapore.
21.07.2014 The natural history of Singapore. History Festival, National Museum of Singapore.
26.06.2014 How evolution was uncovered by creationists. Science café, Singapore.
27.05.2014 Will the real Alfred Russel Wallace please stand up? Hay Festival, Hay-on-Wye.
13.12.2013 Dispelling the Darkness: The True Story of Darwin, Wallace and the Discovery of Evolution in Southeast Asia. Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore.
20.11.2013 Keynote lecture. Launch of Island adventurer: Alfred Russel Wallace, Science Centre Singapore.
10.11.2013 Popularizing science. Singapore writers festival.
23.10.2013 A.R. Wallace: Specimen collector (and naturalist). Alfred Russel Wallace and his Legacy – Wallace100 conference. The Natural History Museum (London).
21.10.2013 Wallace and Darwin: what really happened? Alfred Russel Wallace and his legacy. The Royal Society. click for audio
19.10.2013 How we found out evolution is true. TEDxNTU.
15.08.2013 Booklaunch: Dispelling the darkness. Bookhaven, NUS, Singapore.
04.07.2013 Wallace’s eureka moment: The discovery of natural selection. The Natural History Museum (London).
23.02.2013 The life and achievements of Darwin. Darwin Day. Woodlands Regional Library, Singapore.
27.04.2012 Alfred Russel Wallace in South East Asia: the true story. Asian Civilizations Museum.
13.04.2012 Darwin & Wallace. The Mystery Solved. Science in the Café, Science Centre, Singapore.
12.02.2012 Charles Darwin. Humanist Society of Singapore.
11.02.2012 Charles Darwin the true story. National Geographic, Vivo City, Singapore.
14.11.2011 Alfred Russel Wallace in South East Asia: the true story. Asian Civilisations Museums Singapore.
21.04.2011 Solving the Darwin-Wallace Mystery of 1858. Asian Research Institute, National Museum of Singapore.
16.03.2011 Darwin day. Blinkbl_nk, Brewerkz at Riverside Point, Singapore.
12.02.2011 Darwin Day. Humanist Society of Singapore.
27.01.2011 Science lunchtime talks, Faculty of Science, NUS.
16.10.2010 Debunking myths about evolution. TEDxNUS, NUS.
09.02.2010 San Diego State University, California.
07.02.2010 Keynote lecture. Stanford University, California.
07.02.2010 Why Darwin really gave up Christianity. The Humanist Community of Silicon Valley, California.
04.12.2009 Porto University, Portugal.
28.11.2009 National Museum of Ireland, Dublin.
27.11.2009 Oundle School.
12.11.2009 Darwin Day at Aarhus University, Denmark.
13.10.2009 Darwin Society, Christ’s College, Cambridge.
11.10.2009 Ilkley Playhouse Wildman Studio, Weston Road, Ilkley.
26.09.2009 Christ’s College Alumni lecture.
26.09.2009 Cambridge Library Group.
23.09.2009 Centre for Life in Newcastle upon Tyne.
16.09.2009 Life and Earth Scientists: SE Asian Gateway Meeting at Royal Holloway, University of London.
09.09.2009 Department of History, NUS.
07.09.2009 Department of Biological Sciences, NUS.
24.07.2009 Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution.
27.06.2009 University of Northampton.
22.06.2009 NUS.
13.06.2009 Cambridge Local Girton Association, Girton College, Cambridge.
22.05.2009 University of Birmingham.
16.05.2009 Darwin in London. Hunterian Museum at the Royal College of Surgeons & Grant Museum of Zoology.
06.05.2009 Cambridge University atheist & agnostic society, Cambridge Union.
21.04.2009 Mid-Maine Global Forum, Waterville, Maine.
20.04.2009 Colby College, Waterville, Maine.
17.04.2009 Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati.
16.04.2009 University of Cincinnati, Ohio.
10.04.2009 Huntingdon Library, Los Angeles, California.
09.04.2009 Oklahoma University.
08.04.2009 University of Wisconsin-Parkside, Wisconsin.
04.04.2009 Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center, Colorado.
03.04.2009 American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Chicago.
01.04.2009 Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio.
30.03.2009 Boston University, Massachusetts.
28.03.2009 Ramsbottom Lecture, Society for the History of Natural History, National Museum of Wales.
12.03.2009 Clare College Research Symposium 2009.
22.02.2009 National History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen.
13.02.2009 Winchester Discovery Centre.
12.02.2009 Christ’s College, Cambridge.
09.02.2009 University of St Andrews.
5-6.02.2009 Natural History Museum, Milan.
26.09.2008 What Darwin really said about humans. British Council, Cafe Scientifique. Athens-Sofia.
19.09.2008 Darwin’s life. Shrewsbury School, Shrewsbury.
07.05.2008 Charles Darwin – his life and legacy. Residencia de Estudiantes, Madrid, Spain.
08.02.2008 A century of celebrating Darwin: The evolution and extinction of historical myths. Darwin industries Inc. Getting in gear for 2009. University of Aarhus, Denmark.
14.11.2007 Rediscovering Darwin: The real story of Darwin’s finches. 11th Annual Grant Lecture, Grant Museum of Zoology, University College London.
20.10.2007 Launch of Darwin Online. Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities, Cambridge University.
22.09.2007 Did Darwin really avoid publishing his theory of evolution? Alumni lecture, Christ’s College, Cambridge.
15.09.2007 Darwin’s delay. Alumni lecture, Christ’s College, Cambridge.
07.07.2007 Darwin and Christ’s College. Alumni lecture, Christ’s College, Cambridge.
18.04.2007 Did Darwin really delay publishing his theory for many years? Natural History Museum, London.
26.04.2006 Darwin’s Finches. Icons of the Galapagos, British Library.
28.09.2005 Darwin and evolution. Natural History Museum, Aarhus, Denmark.
28.09.2005 Darwinising the history of ideas. Society for the History of Ideas, Aarhus University, Denmark.
23.03.2003 What is science popularisation? History of Science Popularisation, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
28.12.2001 Naturforscher oder Scharlatan? Der Schädellehrer Franz Joseph Gall (1758-1828). Sitzungssaal of the Rathaus of Weil der Stadt, Germany.

Professional Activities

2019- Editorial Board of Archives of natural history.
2012- Professorial Fellow of Charles Darwin University, Australia.
2011- Fellow of Tembusu College, NUS.
2011- Organizer of the Work-in-progress seminar, Tembusu College.
2010- Scientific Associate, The Natural History Museum (London).
2010-11 Joint Appointment to the University Scholars Programme, NUS.
2009- Senior Lecturer, Department of Biological Sciences and Department of History, NUS.
2009- Associate of the Science, Technology & Society (STS) Cluster, FASS, NUS.
2009- Associate of the Asia Research Institute (ARI), NUS.
2009- Fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
2009- Editorial Board of The evolutionary review.
2007-9 Darwin 2009 Committee, University of Cambridge.
2005-9 Editorial Board of Centaurus.
2005- Life member of the Biological Society, University of Cambridge.
2005-10 Bye-Fellow of Christ’s College, Cambridge.
2005-9 Member of Regents House, University of Cambridge.
2005-8 Director of the Wheeler Library of the British Society for the History of Science.
2005-8 Editor of the British Society for the History of Science Monograph series.
2005-8 Member of Council and Trustee of the British Society for the History of Science.
2005 Visiting Associate Professor, History of Ideas Department, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
2003-5 Research Fellow, Correspondence of Alfred Russel Wallace Project, Open University.
2002- Founder and Director of The Complete Work of Charles Darwin online.
2002-3 Senior Research Fellow, University Scholars Programme, NUS.
2002-3 Editor of the Science section of the Victorian Web.
2001-10 Affiliated Research Scholar, Department of History & Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge.
1999- Member of The Cambridge Historical Society.
1999-2000 Organizer of the Pan-historical Methods seminar, History Faculty, University of Cambridge. (An interdisciplinary seminar for presenting specialized historical research to a general historian audience.)

Documentaries etc.

2021, Ida Pfeiffer: 19th Century globetrotter. The Forum, BBC World Service.

2021, [Guest appearance by John van Wyhe] Age of Revelation 末。时代. SAtheCollective and filmmaker Liao Jiekai, Singapore Chinese Cultural Centre.

2021, Interview with John van Wyhe. Victorian Specimen Collecto‪r. Jobsolete (podcast)

2020, [Komodo dragons]. Komodo-Warane: Gefährdete Überlebenskünstler. ZDF (German TV)

2020, Interview with John van Wyhe. Phrenologist. Jobsolete podcast.

2020, Interview with John van Wyhe on Darwin etc. Atheist Incorporated (YouTube).

2020, Who is Charles darwin and why he changed the world – Ep. 2. by Victor Rault. (YouTube).

2019, Ships that shaped us. Channel News Asia. EP1
EP2. Reviving the Lady Mary Wood.
EP4. Restoring the Fame.

2017, The Sense of Beauty. 6 episodes. Kepach Productions, Italy.

2017, 01 Age of Innovation, 2 episodes. Channel NewsAsia.

2016, The Conservation Conversation. OKJ Discoveries.

2016, 01 Vice & Virtue: 1800s Singapore. Channel NewsAsia.

2015, Artemon Films and Sweet Fern Productions (interviews).

2015, 03 Seconds from disaster: Megafloods. Channel NewsAsia.

2015, 01 Raffles Revealed. 2 episodes. Channel NewsAsia.

2015, Fortress Singapore. Channel NewsAsia.

2015, Cape to Cape Western Australia.

2014, 01 History from the hills. Fort Canning. Okto, Singapore. 2 episodes:
“The five kings” & “Technology”.

2013, Island Adventurer: Alfred Russel Wallace and the Quest for the Origin of Species. Science Centre Singapore.

2013, Various films (filmed on location in Indonesia) played continuously in the Wallace exhibition, Science Centre Singapore.

2013, In Wallace’s footsteps in the Malay Archipelago (Pritchard Productions).

2012, The Love Letter (film).

2012, Did Darwin steal the theory of evolution? NUS research clears Darwin’s name. NUS Catalyst.

2010, In Darwin’s footsteps on Tahiti. VPRO Dutch TV.

2010, Beagle: in the wake of Darwin. Part 24, (2 episodes): ‘Darwin’s nightmare’ & ‘The fiery breath of Alfred Russel Wallace’ VPRO Dutch TV.

2009, British Council Podcast.

2009, Charles Darwin. Environnement. (XD Productions, France).

2009, Découverte: Un Dimanche avec Darwin. SRC/HD Radio Canada TV.

2009, Darwin in Cambridge. Fitzwilliam Museum Endless Forms podcast.

2006, Darwin’s Beagle diary. BBC Radio 4’s Book of the Week.

2001, Psychic live time, Granada Cable TV.

2001, Revealing Secrets: Phrenology. Channel 4 TV.

2001, Victorian calling cards: George Combe. BBC Radio 4.

2000, Phrenology, revealing the mysteries of the mind. Bfs Entertainment (2 hour video documentary).

Outreach & Media

Select media interviews and documentaries etc. (excluding indirect media coverage, for which see: Press)

2021

BBC World Service, Jobsolete podcast, The Love of Reading (YouTube), NUSnews, Straits Times, EurekAlert (AAAS), Bolly Inside, ScienMag, Bioengineer.org, Health News Digest, Phys.org. 7th Space, bionieuws.

2020

FM 89.3 SPHradio (Singapore); Straits Times, Victor Rault, World of Darwin (YouTube); Atheist Incorporated (YouTube), NUS Research News, BBC Radio Wales.
Broadcasting: ZDF (German Television); BBC World News (TV).

2019

Straits Times, The Guardian, Asia One, Outside Magazine; South China Morning Post, NUS News; Inside NUS, IDN Times [Indonesia], tirto.id [Indonesia], Sputnik news [Brazil], Spektrum.de, Bisnis Indonesia.
Broadcasting: Peddling Pictures, Singapore: Channel News Asia (documentary Ships that shaped us, 2 episodes), British Council Jakarta.

2018

Katadata.co.id, Bisnis Indonesia, Washington Post, The Guardian, Forbes Magazine.

2017

BBC Travel, Times Higher Education Supplement, Second Wind Magazine, Kompass (Jakarta), NUS News.
Broadcasting: Kepach Productions, Italy (documentary- The sense of beauty); KBR Radio Jakarta, Indonesia; CNN Indonesia.

2016

BBC Earth, BBC world service, Scientific American, Dundee Courier, Discover magazine, Der Standard (Austria), New Scientist Live webcast, Global Times, NUS News.
Broadcasting: BBC world service, SKY Arts (UK TV), First Look Asia [Breakfast], Channel NewsAsia, Second Wind Magazine, Flat Spoke Media.
Vice & Virtue: 1800s Singapore, Channel NewsAsia; Age of Invention, Channel NewsAsia, OKJ Discoveries.

2015   

Huffington Post, Nature, Euroscientist, Straits Times, National Geographic, Prestige magazine.
Broadcasting:
Channel NewsAsia, documentaries: Raffles Revealed (2 episodes), Fortress Singapore; Seconds from disaster: Megafloods.

2014   

The Guardian, Nature, Nature News, Straits Times on Sunday, AsiaOne news, Asian Scientist, Science Magazine, Smithsonian.com, Videnskab.dk, Discover Magazine, Open Science World, The Scientist, Digital Journal, Popular Science, Engadget, io9, Siliconrepublic, Arstechnica, UPI Top News, Phys.Org, Hyperallergic, The kidz parade, Library Journal, Videnskab.dk, Discover Magazine, The Scientist, Digital Journal, Popular Science.
Broadcasting:
BBC Radio Shropshire, ABC Radio Melbourne, BBC Radio 4. Documentary: Okto (TV) History from the hills.

2013   

The Guardian,The Financial Times, Straits Times, Straits Times on Sunday, BBC Wales, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Neuer Züricher Zeitung, The Scientist, Asian Scientist, Canada Free Press, OSAY, NUS Faculty of Arts and Social Science. Research, NUS Newshub.

2012   

The Guardian, Science, BBC News, The Daily Mail, Science daily, Zeit Online. Wissen, NRC Handelsblad (Netherlands), El Mundo, Veja (Brazil), Ciência Hoje (Brazil), TG Daily, PhysOrg.com, The Press (New Zealand), NUS Science faculty newsletter, NUS Annual report.
Broadcasting:
Channel NewsAsia, BBC World Service Newshour Radio, BBC World TV Newsday (TV), NUS Video Cast, Atheist Talk Radio 950AM KTNF Minnesota, USA. Film: The Love Letter.

2011   

Nature news, NPR (USA), Artemon Films and Sweet Fern Productions (interviews), Straits Times.

2010   

CNN, BBC Brazil, PBS Newshour, The Statesman (India).
Broadcasting:
VPRO Dutch TV documentaries: In Darwin’s footsteps in Tahiti; Darwin’s Nightmare (2 episodes)

2009   

BC Canada TV, BBC Arabic Television, Aargauer Zeitung/Mittellandzeitung (Switzerland), BBC News website, British Council Podcast, Berliner Zeitung, Cambridge Evening News, Clarin newspaper (Argentina), Daily Express, de Volkskrant (Netherlands), Associated Press, Südostschweiz, El Mundo (Spain), El País (Spain), Ely Standard, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt, History Today, International Herald Tribune, Lush Magazine, Mail Online, Metro, Nature, National Geographic, Novinky (Czech Republic), Politiken (Denmark), Rhein Zeitung, Science magazine, Scientific American, Spektrum der Wissenschaft (Germany), Telegraph, Chronicle of Higher Education, Economist, Guardian, Herald, Independent, New York Times, Sun, Yorkshire Post, et al.
Broadcasting:
BBC 1, Euroblick BR3 (TV) Germany, BBC Look East (TV), CBC Radio Canada (TV); National Public Radio (USA), NPR Radio (Wisconsin, USA), WRJN Radio (Wisconsin, USA), FM4 Österreichischer Rundfunk (Austrian radio), BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, ABC Radio (Australia), Guardian podcast, NRK (Norwegian radio), TalkSport radio, Breakfast, Associated Press, Irish News Talk Radio, et al.

2008   

Guardian, Science Magazine, New Scientist, New Humanist Magazine, Independent, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Stern, El Mundo, El País, Marianne (France), 24 Hours (Bulgaria), Bilim ve Teknik (Turkey), Weekendavisen (Denmark), Sunday Express, USA Today, BBC News website, et al.
Broadcasting:
BBC 1 Breakfast (TV), Today Programme BBC Radio 4, ABC Radio Canberra & central, RTE Radio 1, Ireland, Irish NewsTalk Radio, ITV Anglia TV, BBC Shropshire, BBC Wales, BBC Radio Five, BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, BBC Radio Kent, BBC World Service, Brazil, National Public Radio (USA), Voice of America, Talksport radio (UK), Austrian public radio, et al.

2007   

Nature (including 2 page feature on Darwin’s delay); New Scientist; Daily Express, Daily Mail; Daily Telegraph, Evening Telegraph, Daily Star, Guardian, London Metro, USA Today, Down to Earth magazine (Delhi), Cambridge Evening news; Cambridge Library Group Reflections, New Scientist; BBC News website, Spektrumdirekt (Germany), et al.
Broadcasting:
BBC Look East (TV); BBC News (TV); Today Programme BBC Radio 4; BBC Radio 3; CBC Radio; Colourful Radio (UK); Radio Cambridgeshire, Breakfast; Radio Shropshire, et al.

2006   

The Times, Nature, Independent; New Scientist, Scientific American, Singapore Today; Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Research Horizons, Cambridge RSD; Cambridge Evening News, BBC News website, et al.
Broadcasting:
Anglia TV; BBC 1 Breakfast (TV); BBC News 24; BBC World TV; BBC World Service (TV); Look East (TV); Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; CNN News; BBC Radio 4 News Briefings; BBC Radio 4 Today Programme; BBC Radio Cambridgeshire; BBC Radio Scotland; BBC Radio Severn; BBC Radio Shropshire; BBC Radio Wales, et al.

2005   

Nature; Times Higher Education Supplement; Times, Cambridge Evening News.
Broadcasting: Austrian public radio.

2004    American Scientist.

2001   

meome.de Geschichte der Wissenschaften portal.
Broadcasting:
BBC Radio 4 documentary: Victorian Calling Cards, George Combe, Channel 4 (TV); Phrenology (2 hour documentary) Bfs Entertainment.

2000    Hippocrates. Broadcasting: Live interview on Phrenology. Granada (TV).

1999    Guardian, Lancet, USA Today, Exploration Magazine.

Historical consultant: BBC1; BBC2; BBC Scotland; BBC Radio 4; BBC Wales, BBC World Service, BBC Earth, Channel 4, The Guardian, National Geographic, New York Times, Country Life, Interior World, Bfs Entertainment, TVBrazil, Madrid TV, Tinopolis, Illuminations Media, The Travellers, VPRO (Dutch Television), CNN, NHK (Japanese public TV), 3sat nano (German public television), CBC Radio-Canada, Quequicom. (Spanish TV), American Philosophical Society, Huntington Library, Channel NewsAsia, Okto, Science Centre Singapore, Kepach Productions, University of Oklahoma Libraries, Boom (Spanish TV), Swiss Academy of Sciences, Peddling Pictures, Israel Science Foundation, etc. etc.