Charles Darwin (1809-1882)

A character sketch of Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was a British naturalist who became famous for his theories on evolution.

Darwin believed that, through millions of years, all species of plants and animals had evolved (developed gradually) from a few common ancestors.

Darwin set forth his theories in his book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life (1859).

Darwin's theories shocked most people of his day, who believed that each species had been created by a separate divine act.

His book, which is usually called simply The Origin of Species, presented facts that refuted this belief. It caused a revolution in biological science and greatly affected religious thought.

Darwin was born in Shrewsbury, England. He was the grandson of the noted physician and naturalist Erasmus Darwin, who had proposed a theory of evolution in the 1790's.

Darwin studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh and theology at Cambridge University. He received a bachelor's degree from Cambridge in 1831.

From 1831 to 1836, Darwin served as a naturalist with a British scientific expedition aboard the H.M.S. Beagle. The expedition visited places throughout the world, and he studied plants and animals everywhere it went.

In South America, Darwin found fossils of extinct animals that closely resembled modern species.

On the Galapagos Islands in the Pacific Ocean, he noticed many variations among plants and animals of the same general type as those in South America. He collected the fossils and other specimens for future study.

Darwin returned to England in 1836 and settled in London. He spent the rest of his life studying specimens, doing experiments, corresponding with other scientists, and writing about his findings. Darwin's early books included The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs (1842) and a journal of his research aboard the Beagle.

In 1839, Darwin married his cousin Emma Wedgwood. The family moved to Downe, near Croydon, in 1842, and Darwin lived there until his death. He was buried in Westminster Abbey in London.

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