Our approach.
We started this project with so much fascinating data, and so many ideas for how to visualize it. Because the data includes the locations of Darwin’s first editions, we thought of creating a map showcasing how far and how often each edition had traveled. Because the data also includes the names of prominent individuals to whom Darwin sent first editions, we thought of creating a network diagram of his friends and acquaintances.
Yet when we tried our hand at creating these visualizations, essentially quantifying the books’ travels and their owners’ relationships, we found that there was something missing. While these data visualizations were revealing, they did not tell the whole story of each individual book. A closer look at the data, as well as a visit to Special Collections to view a first edition in person, made us realize that some of the most interesting information was in the Provenance Notes field. The additional information that we cut out in order to clean our data was, in reality, the data we were most interested in working with. The Provenance Notes gave each book a rich narrative that did not fit into a traditional data visualization, which meant that we needed to think of a more unconventional way to explore and display these narratives.
This led one of our members to suggest that we create a game as our primary data visualization. Because we had considered implementing experimental data visualizations from the beginning, this suggestion appealed to us. Creating a game would allow viewers of our project to not only read about each copy of the book, but to interact with its narrative directly. It would also allow the participant to choose which book to follow based on its first owner’s location. Though we have also created maps to represent our data, we feel that the game format helps to emphasize the narrative element of our data while also giving the viewer choices in how the narrative unfolds.
Yet when we tried our hand at creating these visualizations, essentially quantifying the books’ travels and their owners’ relationships, we found that there was something missing. While these data visualizations were revealing, they did not tell the whole story of each individual book. A closer look at the data, as well as a visit to Special Collections to view a first edition in person, made us realize that some of the most interesting information was in the Provenance Notes field. The additional information that we cut out in order to clean our data was, in reality, the data we were most interested in working with. The Provenance Notes gave each book a rich narrative that did not fit into a traditional data visualization, which meant that we needed to think of a more unconventional way to explore and display these narratives.
This led one of our members to suggest that we create a game as our primary data visualization. Because we had considered implementing experimental data visualizations from the beginning, this suggestion appealed to us. Creating a game would allow viewers of our project to not only read about each copy of the book, but to interact with its narrative directly. It would also allow the participant to choose which book to follow based on its first owner’s location. Though we have also created maps to represent our data, we feel that the game format helps to emphasize the narrative element of our data while also giving the viewer choices in how the narrative unfolds.
Visiting UCLA's Special Collections.
On May 9, 2017, our team visited the Louise M. Darling Biomedical Library. Specifically, we visited Russell Johnson, Curator and Librarian of History and Special Collections for the Sciences. Our goal? To finally see a first edition of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. Though we had learned so much about Darwin’s work and traced each first edition’s history, we had done all this without ever physically handling the book.
Yet none of us anticipated that we would have the opportunity to view so many other books that preceded or were contemporaneous with Darwin’s Origin of Species. We discovered that Darwin’s work was the latest, perhaps most groundbreaking, development in a tradition of studying animals and plants and attempting to tease out their origins. We saw several volumes, including Mark Catesby’s work on “The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands: containing the figures of birds, beats, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants” published between 1731 and 1743, as well as Alfred Russel Wallace’s “A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro: with an account of the native tribes, and observations on the climate, geology, and natural history of the Amazon Valley” published in 1853, among several others. It is fascinating to think of the ways that these works may have influenced Darwin in writing his Origin of Species.
Of course, one of the highlights of our visit was finally seeing On the Origin of Species up close. When some of us expressed concerns about damaging the book, Russell told us that handling a book only adds to its history. The oils on our fingers do not destroy the book, but rather show that many people have absorbed and enjoyed it. It is not just about maintaining the integrity of the book (though it is certainly important to protect books that are over 150 years old!) but about giving it a rich legacy. In handling the book, we gained knowledge that we could not gain from our research.
This experience has been integral to our project. It has informed our decision to focus not just on where Darwin’s first editions ended up or who owned them, but also on what brought them there and who those owners really were. We have come to realize that a book’s narrative is both the story its words tell and the story of the physical book itself.
Yet none of us anticipated that we would have the opportunity to view so many other books that preceded or were contemporaneous with Darwin’s Origin of Species. We discovered that Darwin’s work was the latest, perhaps most groundbreaking, development in a tradition of studying animals and plants and attempting to tease out their origins. We saw several volumes, including Mark Catesby’s work on “The natural history of Carolina, Florida and the Bahama islands: containing the figures of birds, beats, fishes, serpents, insects, and plants” published between 1731 and 1743, as well as Alfred Russel Wallace’s “A narrative of travels on the Amazon and Rio Negro: with an account of the native tribes, and observations on the climate, geology, and natural history of the Amazon Valley” published in 1853, among several others. It is fascinating to think of the ways that these works may have influenced Darwin in writing his Origin of Species.
Of course, one of the highlights of our visit was finally seeing On the Origin of Species up close. When some of us expressed concerns about damaging the book, Russell told us that handling a book only adds to its history. The oils on our fingers do not destroy the book, but rather show that many people have absorbed and enjoyed it. It is not just about maintaining the integrity of the book (though it is certainly important to protect books that are over 150 years old!) but about giving it a rich legacy. In handling the book, we gained knowledge that we could not gain from our research.
This experience has been integral to our project. It has informed our decision to focus not just on where Darwin’s first editions ended up or who owned them, but also on what brought them there and who those owners really were. We have come to realize that a book’s narrative is both the story its words tell and the story of the physical book itself.
Photo © Patel Lab