Charles Robert Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was a British naturalist, geologist and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. He was born on 12 February 1809 in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England, the fifth child of Robert Darwin, a wealthy doctor and financier, and Susannah Wedgwood, the daughter of the famous potter Josiah Wedgwood. He had six siblings, three of whom died in childhood. Darwin developed an early interest in natural history and collected specimens from his father’s garden and nearby fields. He attended Shrewsbury School and then Edinburgh University, where he studied medicine but found it boring and gruesome. He then went to Christ’s College, Cambridge, where he intended to become a clergyman but was more fascinated by botany and geology. He became friends with John Stevens Henslow, a professor of botany, who recommended him for a position as a naturalist on HMS Beagle, a survey ship that was about to embark on a five-year voyage around the world. The voyage of the Beagle proved to be a turning point in Darwin’s life and career. He collected thousands of specimens of plants, animals and fossils from various regions and islands, and observed the diversity and adaptation of life forms to different environments. He also read books on geology, such as Charles Lyell’s Principles of Geology, which influenced his views on the gradual and uniform change of the earth’s surface over long periods of time. He began to formulate his own ideas on the origin and variation of species, which he later called natural selection. After returning from the voyage in 1836, Darwin settled in London and married his cousin Emma Wedgwood in 1839. They moved to Down House in Kent, where they raised ten children. Darwin devoted himself to studying and writing about his findings from the voyage and other topics in natural history. He published several books and papers, such as The Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle (1838-1843), The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842), The Various Contrivances by which Orchids are Fertilised by Insects (1862), The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication (1868), The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871) and The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals (1872). However, his most famous and influential work was On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life (1859), which presented his theory of evolution by natural selection as an explanation for the diversity and adaptation of life on earth. He wrote this book after receiving a letter from Alfred Russel Wallace, a naturalist who had independently arrived at a similar idea while working in Southeast Asia. Darwin and Wallace jointly presented their papers on natural selection to the Linnean Society of London in 1858, but Darwin’s book gave a more detailed and comprehensive account of his evidence and arguments. Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was controversial at the time, as it challenged the prevailing views on the creation and fixity of species based on biblical accounts and natural theology. It also had implications for human origins and social issues such as race, class and morality. Darwin faced criticism and opposition from some religious authorities, scientists and public figures, but also received support and admiration from many others who recognised the significance and validity of his work. He continued to refine and expand his theory in his later publications and correspondence with other scientists. Darwin suffered from various health problems throughout his life, which he attributed to overwork and stress. He died of heart failure on 19 April 1882 at Down House, at the age of 73. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, near the grave of Sir Isaac Newton, as a mark of honour and respect for his contributions to science and humanity. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in human history and the father of modern evolutionary biology.