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Date of Birth
Charles Darwin was born on February 12,1809 at The Mount House in Strewsbury, United Kingdom -
Darwin sets sail
Darwin began his charting voyage around South America at 22 years old on a ship called The H.M.S Beagle. Darwin was considered the ships naturalist. Darwin began this voyage as a creationist. This meant that despite Darwins knowledge of the idea behind evolution he still believed there was a Devine creation of humans and did not entertain that idea much. -
Darwins first stop
On Darwins first stop on St.Jago in the Canary Islands he noticed fossilized bones in the rocks along with shells on the beach of a similar creature. This interested him because he started to compare the fossils of the older creatures that used to be on the Island to the shells of the creatures that inhabited the Island at the time Darwin was there. -
The second pattern
Darwin discovered that some animals appear very similar but have distinct characteristics in different parts of South America. Darwin noticed that the Rhea, a bird similar to an ostrich found in Argentina differed from the smaller browner species he found near Rio Negro. Darwin realized now instead of focusing on the differences found between the fossilized animals and the current animals he could focus on similar animals in different locations. -
Bahia Blanca
While exploring on the coast of Argentina Darwin discovered fossilized armadillos and giant sloths. The island had an aboundance of armadillos and sloths to compare the fossils he had found on the same island. Darwin began to ask the question of why would fossilised mammals relate so closely to the modern animals on the island. Darwin then focused on animals only found locally to determine what caused the old fossilized animals to be replaced by these new animals on the island. -
Galapagos Islands
Darwin began finding these similar but different animals everywhere he went. On the Galapagos Island Darwin studied the different mocking bird populations as well as the shell differences in the tortoises. He referred to the differences as different varieties and called them allied species. -
Darwins voyage concludes
When Darwin arrived home he began researching and studying what might have been the cause for these evolutionary changes in these animals. Darwin finally came across the idea of natural selection that the environmental factors dictate the species with the most applicable and heritable variations will continue to survive, the others will die off. The animals with none desirable traits die. The animals with the most applicable traits will become more populated in the area suited for those traits. -
Darwins notes
Darwin began writing detailed notes on his findings and specimens he collected. Darwin came to the conclusion that the pattern of differences found between allied species in different locations has "great potential significance"(Darwin). -
The origins Of Species By Means Of Natural Selection
Darwin waited over 20 years after his journey to publish his book on natural selection. The book encompasses his hypothesis, findings and all his evidence he discovered on his voyage to South America.http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F373&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 -
Crash course of Darwins theory of natural selection
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Darwin and the Philosophy of science
Darwin helped with the advancement in the philosophy of science in several different ways. During Darwins time the vast population believed in mainly creationism. Many did not do any studying or analyzing of how and why some animals relate so closely to each other. The minimal theories that did, did not have much of a following and no testing being done to prove the theories. Darwin began his journey as a naturalist who was there to studying the rising waters on the island and geological changes -
Darwin and the Philosophy of Science continued
However, Darwin began realizing these differences in the animals and started asking questions that others have not previously been asking. After continuous research and studies Darwin was able to create several astounding claims. One that even debunked creationism and that humans are directly derived from the evolution of animals. This opened the eyes and minds of many in the scientific field that no hypothesis is too bold. Darwin inspired millions of scientists.