Charles Darwin (February 12, 1809 - April 19th 1882)

  • The Birth of Charles Robert Darwin

    The Birth of Charles Robert Darwin
    Charles Robert Darwin was born on the 12 of February 1809 in his family home in the town of Shrewsbury, England. Darwin was the 5th of 6 children from Robert Darwin and Susannah née Wedgwood. C. Darwin was destined for greatness at birth as he came from a family with a scientific background.
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    The Early Life of Charles Darwin

    Darwin was born in England in 1809. Darwin was the son of Robert Darwin, a wealthy doctor. Since birth, Charles had an eye for natural history. However since being born into a line of doctors he spent his summers as an apprentice doctor, working along side his father. He then attended medical school where he quickly lost interested in becoming a doctor and developed his passion for natural history, geology and biology. This diversion of his medical career led to his contribution to evolution.
  • Anglican Shrewsbury School

    C. Darwin started school with his brothers at Shrewsbury School, one of the nine great English public schools. Darwin studied Greek and Roman reading and grammar
  • College days at University of Edinburgh

    College days at University of Edinburgh
    Charles attended the University of Edinburgh in scotland to pursue a study in medicine, after being pressured by his father. Both C. Darwin's father and paternal grandfather pursued a medical career.
  • College Drop Out

    Despite parental pressure from Charles's father, he decided to drop out of medical school.
  • New Beginnings at The University of Cambridge

    New Beginnings at The University of Cambridge
    After dropping out of medical school, Darwin enrolled at The University of Cambridge where he acquired a Bachelor of Arts degree.
  • Voyage of the Beagle

    Voyage of the Beagle
    In 1831 Darwin left England and set sail. He was chosen as a suitable naturalist to join Cpt. Fitzroy and others for a 5 year expedition to chart the coast of South America. During this voyage Darwin spent his time investigating the coast they landed on and creating a natural history collection of various items to include rocks, fossils. Darwin spent a lot of his time observing different species native to different areas of land and the similarities between them as well as the native humans.
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    Following the Voyage of the Beagle

    Darwin returned to England in October of 1836. Following his return he was widely known from the specimens and journals he sent home from his voyage. He spent lots of time in the months following his voyage traveling to different experts around England to gain more insight on his specimens he discovered. This then lead Darwin to his prediction that one species does change into another.
  • Natural Selection

    Darwin wrote "final cause of all this wedging, must be to sort out proper structure, & adapt it to changes", so that "One may say there is a force like a hundred thousand wedges trying force into every kind of adapted structure into the gaps of in the economy of nature, or rather forming gaps by thrusting out weaker ones."
    Translated by Kees Rookmaaker, Darwin Online, darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=CUL-DAR123.-&pageseq=112.
  • C. Darwin Married Emma Wedgewood

    C. Darwin Married Emma Wedgewood
    Charles Darwin married his first cousin Emma Wedgwood at St. Peter's Church on the 29th of January 1839.
  • On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection

    In November of 1859 Darwin published a book that is considered to be the foundation of evolutionary biology. In this book Darwin talks about how things evolve throughout time and origin. Darwin included important finds he gathered on the Voyage of the Beagle.
  • The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex

    The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
    In February of 1871 Darwin released yet another book titled "The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex" This book relates evolutionary theory to human evolution. Darwin uses evolutionary psychology, ethics, races, and sex as support to his theory. He also included the similarities of humans to animals.
  • The Death of Charles Darwin

    The Death of Charles Darwin
    On February 19th 1882 Charles Darwin passed away. Darwin's theory of evolution is, to this day a widely held theory that all of life is related and descended from a common ancestor. Without Darwin's discoveries, science as we know it would be filled with many black holes and unknowns. Link text
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