The world of professional scientists from which Francis departed when his career finally descended into the confusion of senility was drastically different from the amateur world of natural philosophers in which Erasmus involved himself 150 years earlier. Francis, Erasmus and Charles, with other members of the Darwin family in minor parts, had helped to change the old world and in doing so had helped define the origins of scientific botany. One family had made a quite unparalleled contribution to the development of a fledgling science. By 1925, the year Francis died, the young science was well established. To appreciate their legacy fully it is, however, necessary to follow the evolution of botany some way beyond 1925, given the caveat that the influence of the Darwins was inevitably diluted with each succeeding decade, and each generation of botanists. The most important threads, however, extend right up to the present day. The botanical legacy of the Darwins is the subject of this last chapter.

Their legacy was transmitted in several ways. The first of these is most difficult to pin down for it involves the spirit of the age; the way in which men thought about their world. Thus, Erasmus helped change the spirit of his age through his writings and by bringing together men who were thinkers and doers. Their interests were diverse but from each other they drew the strength to go forward, overcoming practical and personal set-backs. Practical enquiry, they increasingly recognized, could benefit man's wealth, as well as his health. Charles repositioned man in the world, placing him firmly in the natural world rather than above and apart from it. He challenged religions, the structure of society and, what is of particular relevance here, he gave altered direction to much of the science of the day. His evolutionary studies challenged biologists and geologists with countless new questions, which most were eager to tackle.