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Charles Darwin's Childhood
Darwin was born in 1809 to an affluent family in a remote part of England and spent his time reading and watching birds. He was a lazy student, but he was an avid reader of nature books and devoted his spare time to exploring the fields and woodlands around his home, collecting plants and insects. -
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Charles Darwin's Education
Darwin enrolled at Edinburgh University in 1825 to pursue a career in medicine, but soon abandoned it. He enrolled in Christ's College in Cambridge in 1828 to become a clergyman, but persisted in his studies and earned his bachelor's degree in 1831. -
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Charles Darwin's Ideas on Evolution
Darwin wrote short accounts of his views on evolution in 1842 and 1844, but the publication of other related works caused controversy and criticism. He decided to wait and do more research, studying pigeon breeders, conducting experiments on differences in plants and animals, and worrying about the problem of transport across land and water barriers. He believed in the importance of isolation for the creation of new species. -
Charles Darwin's Origin of Species
Darwin's On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, was published in November 1859. His fundamental theory was that in the struggle for survival, certain creatures adapt to their environment more successfully than others, and when these survivors have children, they pass on their qualities, leading species to evolve. https://youtu.be/JOk_0mUT_JU -
Charles Darwin's Ideas on Apes and Humans
Darwin sparked another controversy when he proposed that apes and humans shared an ancestry in "The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex". -
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Charles Darwin's Later Works
Darwin developed a growing fascination with flora. The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants (1875), a compilation of papers published by Darwin in 1864, expanded on these concepts. The Power of Movement in Plants followed. (1880). The Formation of Vegetable Mould via the Action of Worms, with findings on Their Habits, was Darwin's final publication, and it revisited findings he had made in 1837. (1881). -
Charles Darwin's Death
Charles Darwin dies of heart attack and seizures at Down House, later buried in Westminster Abbey.