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Leaves for Edinburgh
During Summers Darwin would help his father on rounds with his patients. When Darwin was only 16 his father sent him to the best medical school Great Britain had to offer, to be prepared to follow in his father and grandfather’s steps. Darwin decided early on that he could not practice medicine. His serious inclination toward science was considerable strengthened at Edinburgh by scientific lectures in chemistry, geology, and anatomy, as well as the mentoring of Dr. Robert Grant. -
Graduated Christ College, Cambridge University
While in Cambridge he befriended two young men attempting to institute serious reforms in the natural science curriculum at Cambridge, Rev. John Henslow, trained in botany and mineralogy, and Rev. Adam Sedgwick, a leading member of the rapidly expanding community of geologists. -
HMS Beagle Voyage
Darwin went on a voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Studies of his samples and notes from the trip led to groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Fossils he collected were shared with paleontologists and geologists, leading to the understanding of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface. Darwin’s analysis of the plants and animals he gathered led him to question how species change over time. This work convinced him of the vision that he is most famous for, natural selection. -
Darwin, C. The Voyage of the Beagle 1839
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Darwin, C. Wallace, A. “On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection.” Linnean Society of London, 1 July 1858
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On the Origin of Species
Darwin published his thought that since natural selection can and does produce slight variations within animal populations that it should be able to explain all of the variety we observe in biology. He concluded that since natural selection explains variety, all life must somehow be related, everything ultimately having evolved from some sort of common ancestor.
Darwin, C. On the Origin of Species. 1859
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