CHARLES ROBERT DARWIN (British) (1809 - 1882)
Naturalist.
Darwin was noted for his documentation of evolution and for a theory for its operation. He was the fifth child in a family of six and was born on February 12, 1809 at Shrewsbury, Shropshire. His influence on the scientific and religious tenor of his time was immense and provocative. He was reared by his eldest sister from age 8. After an early life that showed little promise of his later prominence, apart from his passion for collecting, a habit which either leads a man to be a systematic naturalist, a virtuoso or a miser. He abandoned a career in ministry just as he did with medicine. In 1825 he entered Christ College at Cambridge, where he did just enough to get a degree. It was while at Cambridge he came across Humboldt’s ‘Personal Narrative’. He developed an interest in Natural History, and in 1831 sailed as a naturalist in ‘HMS Beagle’ to survey the wildlife of the west coast of South America and some Pacific Islands. During this five year trip he became convinced of the gradual evolution of species. Besides, he had gathered a magnificent collection and a thorough practical knowledge of geology and zoology. His study of fossils and the unique bird life of the Galapagos Islands led him to believe that all living things were interdependent. Upon his return to England he worked for 20 years before he began to write about evolution in 1856. In 1858, a letter from Alfred Russell Wallace, a younger naturalist, voicing Darwin’s own ideas prompted Darwin to abstract his work, which he published the next year as ‘On the Origin of Species’.So much interest was generated about it that whole edition of 1250 copies were sold out on the day of publication. In the raging controversy that followed the Church was on one side and Scientists, led by Thomas Huxley, on the other. Bishop Wilberforce’s spirited arguments crumbled before Huxley’s cold logic. The intellectuals greeted the discomfiture of the Church; It astonished the common man: The wags had a field day in tracing their lineage to the apes.
When the dust had settled down Darwin’s theory was accepted by the leading scientists. Subsequent research in embroyology helped to confirm it. It was used to advance man’s knowledge in anthropology, ethnology and psychology.
His later days were spent in much physical discomfort, as a result unknown at that time, of Chagas’ disease, contracted while in South America. Several important works preceeded his Origin. Later works include ‘Variation in Animals and Plants under Domestication’ (1868) and the ‘Descent of Man’ and ‘Selection in Relation to Sex’ (1871). He died on 1882 at Derby, Derbyshire.
compiler: benny
