-
The Birth of Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, 02-12-1809, at his family's home, The Mount. Robert Darwin, his father, was a wealthy doctor. -
First Signs of Darwin's Scientific Mind
Between 1816-1817, Charles as a young boy around 7 was showing an inclination towards history and collecting. -
The Beginning of His Journey
Robert Waring Darwin gave his own copy of the Clavis Anglica linguæ botanicæ (Berkenhout 1764) to his son in 1820 when Charles was 11. The signatures in this book have placed this book in the Rare Book Collection in the Cambridge University Library. During this time, Darwin’s older brother Erasmus made him his assistant and collaborator in the chemical laboratory they installed in the garden of The Mount. Erasmus wrote to Charles from Cambridge about scientific discoveries and experiments. -
Attending Medical School 1825-1827 and Cambridge 1827-1831
Darwin spent the summer of 1825 as an apprentice doctor, helping his father treat the poor of Shropshire, before going to the University of Edinburgh Medical School. This was considered the best medical school around this time. He showed interest in taxidermy, history and zoology. He avoided most lectures outside these interests and found surgery distressing. It was from his cousin Fox he became an avid beetle collector. His botany professor and Fox convinced him to pursue geology. -
The Voyage of the HMS Beagle
The opportunity to become a naturalist on a voyage of exploration arose from his botany teacher's recognition of Darwin's abilities. What was intended to be a 2 year voyage lasted 5 years. As the trip progressed, he became dedicated to the life of scientific inquiry. The first stirrings of doubt about the fixity of species came during his study of the Galapagos bird species. This would later become his theory of Natural selection. -
Returning to England
When Darwin returned to England in October 1836., the Beagle voyage gave rise to geolocial and zoological books and papers over the following years that testify to the wealth and quality of Darwin’s collections and observations. But more than this, the Beagle material was to provide Darwin with the basis for his life’s work, that Darwin became a committed transmutationist a few months after his return to England. -
First Scientific Speech to Geological society
The topic of his paper was on the gradual raising of South America over eons of time. He concluded that as land masses raise upward, the nearby ocean floor subsides, and that the animals on the raising continent somehow or another adapt to these very slow changes. -
Elected into Royal Society of London/ Marriage
The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.Each candidate for Fellowship or Foreign Membership must be nominated by two Fellows of the Royal Society, who sign a certificate of proposal. The certificate includes a statement of the principal grounds on which the proposal is being made and is available for inspection by other Fellows. -
Published "The Structure and Distribution of the Coral Reefs"
Corals were an important topic at this time as many ships were wrecked on unexpected reefs. As well as mapping the distribution of coral reefs, Darwin worked out why different reefs grew where they did, including directly next to land or separated by a stretch of water, like the Great Barrier Reef.
link text -
Published "On the Origin of Species"
Darwin's most famous work, and one of the most important ever written. It revolutionized our understanding of life on earth. Darwin brings together many convincing kinds of evidence and arguments to show that living things change over time and that they are related to one another genealogically. Link text -
Received Medal from the Royal Society
Darwin was awarded the Royal Society's highest award, the Copley Medal. The Copley Medal is an award given by the Royal Society, for "outstanding achievements in research in any branch of science." This was awarded for his important researches in geology, zoology, and botanical physiology.. -
Published "On the Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex"
In this work Darwin demonstrates that the difference between mankind and animals is not one of kind, but of degree. He also argues that sexual selection explains human racial differences.
Link text -
Starts Writing his Autobiography
Isn't published until after his death in 1887. -
Honorary Doctorate of Law from Cambridge University
The University of Cambridge had come round to Darwinism, and on Saturday 17 November the family attended the Senate House for a ceremony in which Darwin was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws in front of crowds of students, who strung a cord across the chamber with a monkey-marionette which was removed by a Proctor then replaced by a "missing link", a beribboned ring which hung over the crowd through the ceremony. -
The Death of Charles Darwin
By the time of his death, in 1882, Darwin was considered the greatest scientist of his age. Even the church his theory had challenged accorded him a full state funeral and burial in Westminster Abbey, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton.By the time of his death, his theory of evolution had gained general acceptance in Britain, even among many in the Anglican clergy.
