Charles Robert Darwin: 1809-1882

Darwin was a British naturalist, known to many as the father of evolutionary biology, for he revolutionized the sciences of biology through his demonstration of evolution by natural selection. He would go on to write his widely read workings such as, On the Origin of Species By Means Of Natural Selection, and The Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle of Life, which when first published, sold out immediately. Showing interest geological specimens at a young age, his then Botany professor (John Stevens Henslow) decided to invite Darwin on an expedition to survey the HMS Beagle to Patagonia. This voyage took five years to complete (years 1831-36) and upon his return back home, Darwin had recorded many observations (while voyaging through Tenerife, the Cape Verde Islands, Brazil, the Galapagos Islands, etc..) These observations had lead to the publishing of many works (several to be exact), while attaining the title of the 'secretary of the Geological Society' (years 1838-41). In 1839, Darwin married his cousin, Emma Wedgewood and when he wasn’t devoting time to his observations and research, led quite a simple life of a country gentleman. Throughout the 1840’s Darwin dove deeper into his workings on the origins of species and later, when he published his most popular work: The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, there was heavy attack against him, for his works directly opposed the bible’s depiction of creation (In the book of Genesis). His works concluded that evolution worked naturally (his theory of natural selection) and thus, there was no room for divine involvement. However, it is important to note that Darwin himself did not apply his theory to humans. This may have been to divert the unwavering criticisms that would have taken place (not only against him, but also against his friends and family). Nonetheless, Darwin would continue to publish works (for Darwin’s religious beliefs altered from Christianity in his youth to Deism and finally, he had evolved to agnosticism much later on in his life) on his theories, amongst which The Descent of Man was extremely popular. This work would go on to show the similarities between man and animal in their expressions of emotions and furthermore, planted the seeds for the science of ethnology. Darwin died in Down, Kent on April 19th, 1882 and is now buried in Westminster Abbey.