The Life of Charles Darwin

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THE LIFE OF CHARLES DARWIN

Charles Robert Darwin, a wealthy British naturalist was born on 12th February, 1809 at his family home the Mount in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. He was the fifth of six children, but was the second son of his parents. His father, was Robert Waring Darwin a wealthy physician and financer. However, when Darwin was eight years old, his mother, Susannah Wedgwood past away. Darwin was then raised by his older sisters and house maidens around his home. Darwin was just a boy who had interest in nature but not in academics. In 1818, Darwin was sent to a Shrewsbury Grammar school were he was a boarder. Later in 1825, he was admitted in Edinburgh University to study medicine with the hope of becoming a physician like his father. After noticing his little interest in medicine, his father sent him to Christ’s College, Cambridge in 1827 to study theology. While in Cambridge, Darwin had a huge interest in the study of nature. He enjoyed having a collection of plants, insects and geological specimens.
After Darwin graduated from Cambridge in 1831, he was invited to be part of a five year scientific voyage with the ship HMS Beagle to survey around the world. As a young amateur naturalist, he accepted the offer. During this period Darwin read a book by Charles Lyell titled “Principles of Geology”. This book showed Darwin a better way to understand nature and also implied that fossil records found in rocks proved that animals existed million years ago. He also wrote down his observations in a journal. The most important part of his journey was when he arrived at the island of Galapagos in 1835, there Darwin was amazed by the volcanic rocks and tortoise he saw. He also sel...

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... author of many books and a great observer at life, there is no doubt that he has had a lot of things to say. Therefore, most of his quotes include: “It is not the strongest of species that survive, nor the most intelligent but the one most responsive to change” (Darwin, Origin of Species). However regarding morals, and “ A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others” (Darwin, The Expression of Emotions).
Like every other person, who have the hope of meeting a legend, I will have a lot to discuss with Charles Darwin if I had the chance to meet him. Most of our discussions would be on how he came up with the theory of evolution or what motivated him to take such action, and also what he would have likely changed about his theories that were controversial at that time.

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