Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England, on February 12, 1809. He died April 19, 1882 in Kent, England. Charles Darwin brought many interesting ideas to the world of science. He established the brilliant idea of evolution. Charles Darwin was an English naturalist and geologist. He is best known for his theory of evolution. Darwin learned most of his information on the Voyage of the Beagle. Charles Darwin wrote a book, On the Origin of Species. From this book, came the saying “Survival of the Fittest.” Darwin also came up with natural selection. Charles Darwin accomplished many things with his life. He still has many fans and followers because of his discoveries.
Darwin was the second youngest of six children. He has a long line of family studying science (Biography.com Editors.). Darwin’s parents were both doctors, and his grandpa was a botanist. Botanist is the study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification, and economic importance. Charles mother died when he was only eight years old. Darwin was raised by his three sisters. Darwin’s family was wealthy (Biography.com Editors.). Darwin attended Edinburgh University along with his brother, Erasmus. His father, Robert Darwin, wanted both his children to become physicians. Darwin did not enjoy the study of medicine at all. He became queasy at the sight of blood (Wyhe). Darwin left Edinburgh, and then attended Christ’s College in Cambridge. Darwin wanted to be a parson and study nature (Wyhe). To become ordained Darwin needed to obtain a B.A. degree. Greek was the language spoken during lectures at Christ’s College. Darwin was far behind during lectures because he was not advanced in the Greek language. Darwin had to be tutored at home, until he could easily translate Greek. When Darwin returned, he was not able to stay in the dorms (Wyhe). Darwin was not a good student, but did enjoy learning about nature. He began to study beetles at Christ’s College, He also became an amateur naturalist. Darwin became a close friend with the Professor of botany, John Henslow. John Henslow was the Founder of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden. Henslow was an important influence on Darwin. Henslow thought that species had the ability to vary within certain limits. Through this friendship, Darwin learned more about natural sciences (Wyhe). Befriending Henslow was a good decision for Darwin. Henslow was able to get Darwin on the HMS Beagle (Biography.com Editors.).
The HMS Beagle was a 90 foot long ship that traveled the coast of South America. The main objective of the voyage was to record the longitude and latitude of ports. The Beagle launched on December 27, 1831. The voyage lasted till October 2, 1836 (Biography.com Editors.) The expedition was lead by Robert Fitzroy. It was a five year worldwide trip that visited many places (Wyhe). Darwin went on the ship as a scientific person and a naturalist. He was the only one aboard the ship that had those specialties. Darwin invested geology and zoology while aboard the ship. The HMS Beagle traveled many places. Darwin recorded most of his information in South Africa, Galapagos Islands, and Pacific Ocean Islands (Wyhe). While on the voyage, Darwin collected many specimens, including animals, plants, and fossils. He studied these specimens in depth (Biography.com Editors.). Darwin discovered many fossil creatures while in South America. He was able to recognize that the fossils resembled the previous animals of South America (Wyhe). He wondered where the new species came from. The Galapagos Islands were formed by volcanic eruptions (Sulloway). The Galapagos Island are 13 small islands near the equator. While in the Galapagos, Darwin saw species of animals that no one had ever seen before (Bar-Yam). Darwin was most interested in studying the finch bird. While visiting different islands of the Galapagos, Darwin notices that all the finches had different beaks according to their location. The finches had different beaks for the type of food that was reality available. Darwin concluded that a storm moved the birds to different islands. As a result of this, they adapted. Finches are the fastest evolving vertebrates (Sulloway). Through the Voyage of the Beagle, Darwin established his theory of evolution. He was able to do so through all of his research aboard the HMS Beagle.
“Evolution is the process by which different kinds of living organisms are thought to have developed and diversified from earlier forms during the history of the earth,” (Dictionary). Charles Darwin is well known for his theory of evolution. Darwin did not come up with evolution until after the his expedition on the HMS Beagle. He was studying specimens in London when he discovered evolution. Experts in London, such as John Gould told Darwin that his specimens had never been seen before. Darwin proposed that the specimens resembled species from South Africa. “It seemed to Darwin as if stray migrants from South America had come to the Galapagos, after the islands rose from the sea as volcanoes, and then changed over time in isolation on the islands,” (Wyhe). Darwin pondered upon the fact that new species can form from out of nowhere. He studied how farmers and pigeon fanciers can make distinctive breeds. He learned that organisms are infinitely variable. Darwin wanted to explain how a change could occur (Wyhe). “Change in an organism’s environment forces the organism to adapt to fit the new environment, eventually causing it to evolve into a new species (Bar Yam). Isolation is when two of the same organisms of the same species are separated. When the organism is separated, they are not able to reproduce. Since they cannot reproduce this forms mutation to occur. The organism may become a new species (Bar-Yam). Darwin concluded that animals, plants, and other types of living objects can change within accordance to their surrounding elements. Evolution was not Darwin’s idea alone. The speculation of evolution had already been purposed by his grandfather, Erasmus Darwin. “Darwin saw all life as a single genealogical tree, branching and re branching. Thus similarities between different kinds of living things would be expected from their joint ancestry or common descent,” (Wyhe). Evolution along with natural selection were Darwin’s major accomplishments.