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Charles Darwin's Beginning of Life
Charles Robert Darwin was born February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, England. Darwin was the 2nd youngest of six kids and was born into wealth. Darwin was destined to be in the science field. His father was a doctor and his grandfather was a botanist. Darwin's father wanted him to follow in his footsteps and become a medical doctor, but Darwin could not stand the sight of blood. -
HMS Beagle
Darwin graduated in 1831 with a BS in art. His mentor Henslow recommended him for the naturalist job with the HMS Beagle. This is the moment that changed Darwin's life forever and he probably had no idea. The HMS Beagle voyage was only supposed to last two years and it ended up lasting five starting in 1831 and ending in 1836. The main purpose of the voyage was to survey the harbors in the coast of South America in order to provide better direction and to protect the British trade. -
A video on Darwin's voyage.
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Darwin's Job on the Beagle.
Darwin's job in all of this was to use all the time and the resources to make scientific observations. While the ship measured the depths of the ocean and did what they needed to do Darwin spent his time on land exploring nature. He would observe animals and take specimens which he sent back home so that he could continue his research when he got back. He ended up bringing back specimens from over a 1500 species a lot that people in Europe had never even seen.