The Life and Theories of Charles Darwin

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The Life and Theories of Charles Darwin

Charles Robert Darwin was the fifth child of Robert Waring Darwin

and Susannah Wedgewood. He was born on February 12, 1809 in Shrewsbury,

England where his father practiced medicine. He attended Shrewsbury

Grammar School which was a well-kn own secondary school which concentrated

on teaching classic languages. Even as a boy Darwin loved science and his

enthusiasm for chemical studies earned him the name "Gas" from his friends.

The headmaster at Shrewsbury, Dr. Samuel Butler noted, "Here's a boy, plays

around with his gases and the rest of his rubbish and works at nothing

useful." He was also an avid collector. Anything he could get his hands

on- shells, eggs, minerals and coins interested him.

Darwin was expected to follow his father and become a doctor and in

1825, at the age of sixteen, his father removed him from Shrewsbury and

entered him in the University of Edenburgh to study medicine. He found all

of his classes except chemistry dull. After two years at Edenburg, he

quit school and went to live with his Uncle Josiah Wedgewood. After he

abandoned medicine, his father urged him to attend Cambridge University to

study to be a clergyman. At Cambridge he met John Steven Henslow who

helped him regain his interest in nature. It was Henslow who was

influential in getting Darwin the position of naturalist on the boat The

Beagle. In April of 1831, he graduated from the University.

In the fall following his graduation, the government decided to

send the H.M.S. Beagle, under the command of Captain Fitzroy, to complete

an unfinished survey of Patagonia and Tierra Del Fuego to help map out the

shores of Chile and Peru. Th e voyage w...

... middle of paper ...

...rstand or explain whatever I observed and group a ll facts

under some general laws..."

On April 19, 1882 Darwin died of a heart attack. The family wanted

Darwin to be buried in his home, the village of Downe. However, Parliament

requested that he be buried in Westminster Abbey, a cemetery for Britain's

kings and queens and intellectual giants. This was an indication of how

far Darwin had come towards universal acceptance and respectability.

Darwin's coffin lies next to Issac Newton which is only fitting because

Darwin has been called "The Newton of Biology." Darwin was modest of his

monumental achievements to the very end and said of himself shortly before

his death,"With such moderate abilities as I possess, it is truly

surprising that I should have influenced to a considerable extent the

belief of scientific men on some important points."

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