-
Charles Darwin was born
Charles Darwin was born February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. Darwin was the second son of society doctor Robert Waring Darwin and of Susannah Wedgwood, daughter of the Unitarian pottery industrialist Josiah Wedgwood Desmond, Adrian J. “Charles Darwin.” Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin. -
Early Life
Darwin’s mother died when he was eight years old. His older sisters helped his father raise him until he was able to attend a boarding school when he was nine. Darwin did not enjoy school very much. He found happiness in nature and being outdoors. -
Medical School
Darwin's father noticed that Charles wasn't doing very well in school, so when he was old enough he sent him to the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. Darwin failed to apply himself in medical school. He stated that he found the lectures boring and the whole subject of medicine disgusted him. He gave the impression that in the two years he spent in medical school, he learned very little. Darwin met a Professor called Robert Grant who discussed the idea of evolution with Darwin. -
Second shot at School
Darwin's father decided to switch him to Christ’s College, Cambridge, in 1828. This was a major change of environment from the previous school he was attending. During this time, he indulged his drinking, shooting, and beetle-collecting passions with other squires’ sons, and managed 10th place in the Bachelor of Arts degree in 1831. -
HMS Beagle
Darwin was asked by a young Captain by the name of Robert Fitzroy to join him on his voyage to Tierra dl Fuego at the southern tip of South America. Captain Fitzroy had planned to survey coastal Patagonia to facilitate British trade and return three “savages” previously brought to England from Tierra del Fuego and Christianized. The Beagle officially began its journey on December 27, 1831 -
Journey to the Galapagos
September 1835, Darwin landed on the very hot Galapagos Islands. Those were volcanic prison islands, crawling with marine iguanas and giant tortoises. Contrary to legend, those islands never provided Darwin’s “eureka” moment. Although he noted that the mockingbirds differed on four islands and tagged his specimens accordingly. -
Cocos (Keeling) Islands
April 1836, when the Beagle made it to the Cocos Islands in the Indian Ocean Darwin had his theory of reef formation. He imagined that reefs grew on sinking mountain rims. The delicate coral built up, compensating for the drowning land, so as to remain within ideal heat and lighting conditions. Darwin talked with astronomer Sir John Herschel, about Lyell’s gradual geologic evolution and how it entailed a new problem, the “mystery of mysteries,” the simultaneous change of fossil life. -
The Voyage Ends
Prior to their return, Darwin finished his 770-page diary, wrapped up 1,750 pages of notes, drew up 12 catalogs of his 5,436 skins, bones, and carcasses. Still he wondered if each Galapagos mockingbird was a naturally produced variety and why ground sloths become extinct. -
The Theory is Published
At 50 years old, in 1859, that Darwin finally published his theory of evolution in full for his fellow scientists and for the public at large. His book was 490 pages entitled On the Origin of Species. It was very popular and controversial from the outset. The first edition came out on November 24, 1859 and sold out on that day. It went through six editions by 1872. The ideas in this book were expanded with examples in fifteen additional scientific books that Darwin published. -
Educational Video on Darwin's Theory of Evolution
-
Reference
Desmond, Adrian J. “Charles Darwin.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 13 Sept. 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Darwin. -
Reference
O'Neil, Dennis. Early Theories of Evolution: Darwin and Natural Selection, Palomar, n.d., https://www2.palomar.edu/anthro/evolve/evolve_2.htm. -
Reference
Galapagos Conservation Trust. “Darwins Biography (Early Life) - Discovering Darwin.” Discovering Galapagos Evolution Zone, Galapagos Conservation Trust, n.d., http://evolution.discoveringgalapagos.org.uk/evolution-zone/discovering-darwin/darwins-life/biography-early-life/.
