CHARLES DARWIN
"Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped,
probably arboreal in its habits."
"Man is descended from a hairy, tailed quadruped,
probably arboreal in its habits."
Charles Robert Darwin (1809-1882) was a British Naturalist who heavily influenced our view about earth. He was one of the first scientists who unified a theory about all the diversity of living things on earth, where they come from and how they adapt and survive in changing environments. His two main ideas were that evolution happens in a "Descent of Modification" (generations evolve) and that evolution happens through natural selection. Nowadays we refer to his theory to "gradualism" which means that animals gradually evolve from one species to another and only slight variations happen at a time (see picture). Because of his evidence such as fossils in the geological record, homologous structures, vestigial organs, geographical distribution of species and way more, his theory was the first one which became considered as possible.
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury in England as the grandson of the scientist Erasmus Darwin. After school he went to Edinburgh to study medicine which he hated. That's why he was sent to Christ's College in Camebridge to study theology (1827) which he enjoyed more. During that time he started to collect various kinds of plants, geological specimens and insects. That was encouraged by his botany professor, John Steven Henslow, who fought for a spot for Darwin on the HMS Beagle to Patagonia (1831-1836). He visited Tenerife, the Cape Verde Is, Brazil, Montevideo, Tierra del Fuego, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, Chile, the Galapagos, Tahiti, New Zealand and Tasmania.In these 5 years he gained knowledge of fauna,flora and geology which helped him in his later investigations. By 1846 he published several pieces and of his expeditions which placed him in the front rank of scientists. From 1838 to 1941 he also worked as a secretary in 'Geological Society'. In 1839 he married his cousin Emma Wedgewood. From 1842 on he lived at Down House among his gardens, pigeons and fowls where he gained plenty of practical knowledge especially in variation and interbreeding, proved invaluable. At Down House he also started speculating on the problem of the origin of species for which he became famous later. In 1842 then he collected his observations in short notes which expanded until 1844 into a sketch of conclusions for himself. Those were the basis of the principle of "natural selection", the foundation of the "Darwinian Theory" which he delayed to publicate.
In 1858 Alfred Russel Wallace sent him his ideas which were surprisingly close to Darwin's "natural selection" theory. In the same year Darwin's friends pushed him to publish his 1844 sketch which was then read with Wallace's before the Linnean Society in 1858 which he didn't attend. Darwin then published his finished version "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" in 1959 which was read throughout Europe with great interest and at the same time attacked because it contradicted with the theory given in the Book of Genesis. Though in the end it became recognition from the majority of the biologists.
Darwin died in 1882 after a long illness leaving 8 children, several of whom received great distinction.
Charles Darwin was born in Shrewsbury in England as the grandson of the scientist Erasmus Darwin. After school he went to Edinburgh to study medicine which he hated. That's why he was sent to Christ's College in Camebridge to study theology (1827) which he enjoyed more. During that time he started to collect various kinds of plants, geological specimens and insects. That was encouraged by his botany professor, John Steven Henslow, who fought for a spot for Darwin on the HMS Beagle to Patagonia (1831-1836). He visited Tenerife, the Cape Verde Is, Brazil, Montevideo, Tierra del Fuego, Buenos Aires, Valparaiso, Chile, the Galapagos, Tahiti, New Zealand and Tasmania.In these 5 years he gained knowledge of fauna,flora and geology which helped him in his later investigations. By 1846 he published several pieces and of his expeditions which placed him in the front rank of scientists. From 1838 to 1941 he also worked as a secretary in 'Geological Society'. In 1839 he married his cousin Emma Wedgewood. From 1842 on he lived at Down House among his gardens, pigeons and fowls where he gained plenty of practical knowledge especially in variation and interbreeding, proved invaluable. At Down House he also started speculating on the problem of the origin of species for which he became famous later. In 1842 then he collected his observations in short notes which expanded until 1844 into a sketch of conclusions for himself. Those were the basis of the principle of "natural selection", the foundation of the "Darwinian Theory" which he delayed to publicate.
In 1858 Alfred Russel Wallace sent him his ideas which were surprisingly close to Darwin's "natural selection" theory. In the same year Darwin's friends pushed him to publish his 1844 sketch which was then read with Wallace's before the Linnean Society in 1858 which he didn't attend. Darwin then published his finished version "On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection" in 1959 which was read throughout Europe with great interest and at the same time attacked because it contradicted with the theory given in the Book of Genesis. Though in the end it became recognition from the majority of the biologists.
Darwin died in 1882 after a long illness leaving 8 children, several of whom received great distinction.
Because the public didn't believe his theory that humans descended from monkeys at first, the press published this cartoon to make a joke of him.
Darwin's "Gradualism"
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