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Charles Darwin Life
On February 12th, 1804, Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, United Kingdom. He was born into a wealthy family and attended Cambridge, obtaining a Master's of Arts. He eventually became a renowned naturalist. Charles Darwin wrote three novels, The Voyage of the Beagle, The Decent of Man, and The origin of Species. He received the Royal medal, Wollaston medal, became a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the Copley medal for his achievements. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfsUz2O2jww) -
HMS Beagle
After Cambridge, Darwin embarked on the HMS Beagle to spend five years mapping out South America. Charles would work on personal theories, read books, and study specimens. Upon Arrival, Darwin would examine geology and life, such as insects, birds, and marine life. He proved geological forces could shift landscapes by noticing shell fossils far above the shoreline through his observations. His studies made him believe geology and the nature of species are forever physically changing. -
Galapagos Islands
During Darwin's voyage, he visited the Galapagos Islands. The islands contained an impressive number of species, perfect for his research. Most importantly, he found finches that were similar but with different beaks. He found this was based on what they mainly fed on. This made Darwin begin to understand his theory of natural selection, which means survival of the fittest, not to be confused with the evolution of perfect breed but rather evolution to adapt and breed to changes. -
The Origin of Species
Charles pondered on his 5,436 specimens and thousands of notes he returned with. In doing so, he had an epiphany about the changes in evolution and how they survived and unfit species died. This eventually led to his book The Origin of Species. He remarkably wrote the book in one year. This was thanks to Alfred Wallace, who came up with an identical theory on evolution and natural selection. This pushed Darwin to publish his book to have a complete account of his theories.