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Birth of Charles Darwin
Darwin was born in an English town called Shrewsbury to a wealthy family of the time. He was the fourth of five children and the second of two sons. His father is Dr. Robert Darwin and his grandfather is Erasmus Darwin, another notable member of the scientific community.
Charles Darwin This short video explains Darwin and his Theories. -
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Off to Medical School
Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine as his paternal family had before him. This lasted for two years until he had taken up studies in Natural History. This did now bode well with his family, and they redirected him to become an Angelican Clergyman at the University of Cambridge where he insistently continued his studies in science. -
Became a Uniformitarian of Geology
Prior to departing into his career, Charles Darwin picked up the less common beliefs of the time as a uniformitarian geologist. This meant that any natural event that occurred in the past that shaped the Earth were still liable to happen and that the events currently happening climate wise were shaping the Earth. He followed the works of Charles Lyell. -
Graduating and Pursuing Science
Charles Darwing graduated from the University of Cambridge and through his connections with the science community obtained a position as the ship's naturalist on the HMS Beagle for several years. -
Conceptualization of Darwinism
Charles Darwin studies his plant and animal samples upon returning home from the HMS Beagle realizing that each species was similar in ways that could only mean they originated from the same area. His hypothesis was that plants and animals were once from a mainland and as the Earth evolved and the species migrated, they adapted to their current environment over time. -
Systematic Selection
Charles Darwin noted that through the course of systematic selection agriculture could be developed into the most beneficial forms by selecting traits from animals to breed. This led to larger cows or sheep with more wool. -
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Drafting Ideas
35 pages of sketches to illustrate Charles Darwin's ideas along with a 233-page essay were drafted to show what Darwin believed to be true through his finding on the Galapagos Islands. These were kept secret as he did not believe they would be accepted and instead discredited. -
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist from the East Indies, published and essay that mirrored the previous ideas Charles Darwin had come across some 20 years earlier. -
Published Works
Upon seeing Wallace's works accepted Charles Darwin began compiling information and eventually published his definitive statement on the subject. It was titled On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or, The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life. This outlined Darwin's theory of evolution. -
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Focus on Humans
During the 1860s, Charles Darwin began to apply his theories to humans and see if his ideas could relate. Instead of claiming humans to be affected by natural selection, Darwin began to form theories of heredity. -
The Descent of Man
Charles Darwin published a book outlining his ideas about heredity in a book titled The Descent of Man. He portrayed what he referred to as "sexual selection" meaning that selection comes from competition for mates. -
Death of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin passed away at the age of 73 due to heart failure following illnesses that had plagued him since his early 20s. He is seen as a revolutionary in the scientific field and was buried in Westminster Abbey. -
Mendelism
Charles Darwin's work was solidified even further during the 1930s by the works of Gregor Mendel. Following Mendel's studies on genetics it only led to further explain Darwin's theories. The Darwin-Mendel conjuncture is known a Neo-Darwinism or the Synthetic Theory of Evolution. -
Citations
Ruse, Michael, and Michael Ruse. Charles Darwin, John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2008. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=428154. Darwin, Charles. The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, Open Road Integrated Media, Inc., 2003. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=6119994.\ -
Citations Continued
Wichler, Gerhard. Charles Darwin : The Founder of the Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection, Elsevier Science & Technology, 1961. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/apus/detail.action?docID=1817583.