Don’t forget to check out this week’s Nature, which is the second of our three Darwin 200 special issues. Highlights include:

Editorial: Humanity and evolution

Charles Darwin’s thinking about the natural world was profoundly influenced by his revulsion for slavery.

News Feature: The other strand

Geneticists looked to the human genome to understand human evolution. But it’s hard to interpret without considering the inheritance of culture, finds Erika Check Hayden.

Commentaries: Should scientists study race and IQ?

In the first of two opposing commentaries, Steven Rose argues that studies investigating possible links between race, gender and intelligence do no good. In the second, Stephen Ceci and Wendy M. Williams argue that such research is both morally defensible and important for the pursuit of truth.

Essay: A flight of fancy

Henry Nicholls wonders how things would be different had Charles Darwin given in to pressure from his publisher to rewrite Origin of Species into a popular book about pigeons.

Books and Arts: Poems from Darwin’s descendant

Amid the many analyses of Darwin’s life and work, a more intimate literary portrait emerges from the poetry of his great-great-granddaughter, Ruth Padel. Her series of poems on his life — six of which are reproduced here — evokes the emotion and drama of the naturalist’s discoveries.