Around 1880, the question of how to explain the phenomena of plant movements was heatedly debated in plant physiology. One of the contributions was Charles Darwin’s provocative suggestion that all movements had a common origin, and that some followed a stimulus-response pattern that so far had only been known in animals. The latter claim in particular has recently become immensely popular in the context of “plant neurobiology” and “plant intelligence” research. However, in most cases, reference to the historical episode is reduced to the acerbic critique by the German plant physiologist Julius Sachs, often combined with the claim that consequently, Darwin’s ideas were suppressed and forgotten until being rediscovered in the early 2000s. This paper presents a different, and more historically adequate narrative. First, Darwin’s work was widely discussed, was met with a lot of enthusiasm, and was never forgotten. Second, Sachs’s sharp response was not representative of how plant physiologists actually discussed and debated Darwin’s claims. Third, there were in fact methodological reasons to question the reliability of Darwin’s work. Fourth, Darwin’s critical reception in Germany needs to be seen against the specific history of the field. The paper concludes with a look at some parallels between the debates, then and now.
Kärin Nickelsen (Tue,) studied this question.