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Birth
Charles Robert Darwin born to Robert Darwin, a wealthy society doctor, and financier and to his mother, Susannah Darwin of Shrewsbury, Shropshire.
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Day School - Unitarian Church
Charles attended the local church his mother and brothers went to in his hometown. He was interested in natural history and collecting things. He studied at the church until his mother died. ("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Charles Baptized
Robert Darwin has his son baptized at Saint Chads Church, Shrewsbury.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Charles's Mother Dies
Susannah Darwin Dies (3 January, 1765 - 15 July, 1817)
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Charles And Erasmus Darwin Attend School
Charles and his brother, Erasmus, join Anglican Shrewsbury School as Boarders in hometown of Shrewsbury.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Charles attends University
Charles attends University of Edinburgh Medical School, where he found lectures dull and surgery distressing. So he neglected his studies.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
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Charles Assists Robert Edmond Grant
Charles assisted Robert Edmond Grant's investigations of the anatomy and life cycle of marine invertebrates in the Firth of Forth, an estuary of several Scottish rivers. He learned the classification of plants, and assisted with work on the collections of the University Museum, one of the largest museums in Europe at the time("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
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Attends University of Cambridge's, Christ's College
Here he met with his cousin, William Darwin Fox, who, with his butterfly collection, impressed Charles which led to his interest in Entomology. Fox fueled his interest in beetle collecting as well.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
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Natural Philosophy Inspiration
Charles studied Paley's, Natural Theology or Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity (1802)
Which argued the link between adaptation and God. He also read John Herschel's , Preliminary Discourse on the Study of Natural Philosophy, (1831) which describes natural philosophy, and inductive reasoning through observation. Darwin also read Alexander Von Humbolt's, Personal Narritive, (Scientific travels 1799-1804)
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Charles Earns Ordinary Degree
Charles was unqualified for the Cambridge Tripos, an exam for Degree placement, so it was decided he join the ordinary degree course. Obviously he preferred riding and shooting to studying. He did well on his final examination, placing tenth among 178 candidates.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Survey Voyage HMS Beagle
Charles took board the HMS Beagle on a voyage collecting specimen for a major scientific institution. He stayed mostly private to protect his collection.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Letters to Henslow
Unbeknownst to Darwin, his letters to John Stevens Henslow, 10 of them, were read to the Cambridge Philosophical Society by Henslow and Adam Sedgwick.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
The Secret Pamphlet
The Cambridge Philosophical Society circulated a private pamphlet of Charles Darwin's letters to Henslow. This established Darwin's reputation with the informed public.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Darwin Moves to London
Charles moved to London, England to be closer to his work. He joined Lyell circle of scientists to find a natural cause to the different bird species on the Galapagos Islands. -
Choices
Charles jotted down observations in selective breeding, formulating a theory, as well as pros and cons of marrying Emma Wedgwood, his cousin, describing marriage as "having a friend in old age, better than a dog". Darwin went and visited Emma, but never got around to proposing.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
A Theory In The Making
Charles, while reading the sixth edition of Malthus's An Essay on the Principle of Population, well prepared to compare this to Augustin de Candolle's "warring of the species" of plants and the struggle for existence among wildlife, he noted that species always breed beyond the available resources, favorable variations would remain, and unfavorable variations would be left out. Passing the variations on to offspring to adapt it to changes.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
Tragedy in Twos
In 1851 Charles Darwin's treasured daughter lost her life, as well as losing his son to Scarlett Fever.("Charles Robert Darwin", 2023) -
What You Talking 'Bout Wallace?
Charles's book was only partly written when he received a paper from Wallace describing natural selection. Shocked that he had been "forestalled", Darwin sent it on that day to Lyell, as requested by Wallace. Lyell, Hooker, without a way to involve Wallace, decided a joint presentation at the Linnean Society. Titled, On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties; and on the Perpetuation of Varieties and Species by Natural Means of Selection. -
I Have A Theory...
"As many more individuals of each species are born than can possibly survive; and as, consequently, there is a frequently recurring struggle for existence, it follows that any being, if it vary however slightly in any manner profitable to itself, under the complex and sometimes varying conditions of life, will have a better chance of surviving, and thus be naturally selected. From the strong principle of inheritance, any selected variety will tend to propagate its new and modified form" -
Theory Of Natural Selection And Evolution
