But before he was 'Darwin,' this son of a wealthy country doctor was a young man with a passion for field biology, both terrestrial and aquatic. The image conjured by the name Charles Darwin is usually that of an old man with a long beard who spent his life developing and refining his world-shaking theoretical insights on evolution. But the book based on that idea"On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life"became arguably the most significant scientific work in the last two centuries.ĭarwin as Ichthyologist: Lessons for Our FutureĮarly studies of fish exhibit hallmarks of future theory 24, 1859, his idea that 'natural selection' is the process that drives evolution shocked many of his peers. His studying of plants and animals and collecting fossils soon led him to an idea so subversive that he would hide it from view for more than two decades. Provided by National Science FoundationĪs a young man and against the initial objections of his father, Charles Robert Darwin finished his studies at the University of Cambridge in England and set off on a five-year trip around the world studying nature onboard the Royal Navy ship, the HMS Beagle. "Origin of Species" marked the transition of biology from a prescience to a science. When the "Origin of Species" was published in 1859, the ambitions and scopes of science were dramatically expanding. He is buried in Westminster Abbey in London, England.Evolution of Evolution: 150 Years of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species". The book convinced many people that species change over time-a lot of time-suggesting that the planet was much older than what was commonly believed at the time: six thousand years.Ĭharles Darwin died in 1882 at the age of seventy-three. It was as popular as it was controversial. In 1859, Darwin published his thoughts about evolution and natural selection in On the Origin of Species. In this way, such traits become more widespread in the species and can lead eventually to the development of a new species. The theory of natural selection says that individuals of a species are more likely to survive in their environment and pass on their genes to the next generation when they inherit traits from their parents that are best suited for that specific environment. This work convinced him of the insight that he is most famous for- natural selection. Darwin’s analysis of the plants and animals he gathered led him to question how species form and change over time. Fossils he collected were shared with paleontologists and geologists, leading to advances in the understanding of the processes that shape the Earth’s surface. Studies of his samples and notes from the trip led to groundbreaking scientific discoveries. Upon his return to England in 1836, Darwin’s work continued. He packed all of his specimens into crates and sent them back to England aboard other vessels. He explored regions in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and remote islands such as the Galápagos. The work that Darwin did was just an added bonus.ĭarwin spent much of the trip on land collecting samples of plants, animals, rocks, and fossils. The main purpose of the trip was to survey the coastline of South America and chart its harbors to make better maps of the region. In 1831, Darwin embarked on a voyage aboard a ship of the British Royal Navy, the HMS Beagle, employed as a naturalist. While he continued his studies in theology at Cambridge, it was his focus on natural history that became his passion. It turned out that Darwin was more interested in natural history than medicine-it was said that the sight of blood made him sick to his stomach. His father, a doctor, had high hopes that his son would earn a medical degree at Edinburgh University in Scotland, where he enrolled at the age of sixteen. Charles Darwin was born in 1809 in Shrewsbury, England.
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