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Charles Darwin's Birth
Charles Darwin was born on February 12th, 1809 in Shrewsberry, Shropshire, England. He was the son of Robert Darwin and Susannah Wedgwood -
Darwin's Education
Darwin began college at the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. Darwin was starting to regret the path he went down and his professor didn't help the matter. Darwin said, "His lectures on human anatomy as dull, as he was himself, and the subject disgusted me." -
University Of Edinburgh
Darwin initially started off studying medicine at Edinburgh University. He started classes in October, but by January Darwin was starting to realize this might not be what he wanted to pursue in life. He thought the classes were boring and dull as with his professor as well. He tried to persevere, he visited the clinical ward, but he was only able to sit through two surgeries due to how gruesome and brutal it was (especially with no anesthetics). -
Second Year at Edinburgh
Darwin's second year in school he started taking Robert Jameson's Natural History Course. Jameson taught geology, zoology, mineralogy, meteorology, and botany. This was more up Darwin's alley, even though he still looked at Jameson's lectures as dry, he still read his books and was interested in the topic. -
Teamwork!
In the winter of 1826, Darwin teamed up with Robert Grant, a zoologist, and anatomist. -
New Discoveries!
Darwin and Grant were dissecting and observing small marine creatures and fish. In March of 1827 Darwin and Grant made two discoveries. Darwin discovered that the eggs of Flustra (A sea-weed-like living organism in the sea) had the power of independent movement. His second discovery was what was once thought to be young algae were actually eggs of the Skate Leech. -
University of Cambridge
Darwin arrived at Cambridge University in January of 1828 and continued his education. His father wasn't happy that he wasn't pursuing the physician route and was " turning into an idle sporting man." He enrolled at Christ's College, Cambridge for a Bachelor of Arts. -
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Darwin's Journey on The HMS Beagle
In December of 1831, the HMS Beagle was to set sail and Darwin was hired as the ship's naturalist. Darwin collected a variety of bird and plant specimens and conducted many observations on this trip. Most of the trip was spent in South America, but one of his largest discoveries on this voyage was in the Galapagos. -
Darwin In The Galapagos
Darwin noticed that the finches on the mainland and the finches on the island were similar, but had different characteristics that aided them in collecting food in that habitat. All of these observations and specimens collected on this trip were a huge development in Darwin's theory of evolution. -
Charles Darwin's First Monograph
While Sailing on the Beagle and exploring nature, one of Darwin's goals was to study and understand coral reefs and atolls. Darwin's theory that coral reefs form as islands has yet to be disproved. His monograph "The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs" was published in May of 1842 -
Charles Darwin's Theory
In late 1829 Charles Darwin published, "On The Origin of Species." This book shows his idea of natural selection and describes his studies on his Voyage on the Beagle. -
Charles Darwin's Death
Due to a heart attack and many seizures, Darwin fell dead in his own home in April 1882. Darwin was laid to rest in Westminster, Abbey, not far from Issac Newton.