Charles Darwin
Naturalist, author of On the Origin of Species
Born 1809 · Died 1882
Photo: Herbert Rose Barraud · Public domain
«There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed into a few forms or into one.»
Charles Darwin spent five years on HMS Beagle collecting specimens, then twenty more thinking about what he had seen, before publishing the theory of evolution by natural selection. It is the organising idea of all modern biology.
Key achievements
- Published On the Origin of Species in 1859
- Sailed five years on HMS Beagle as ship's naturalist
- Established natural selection as the mechanism of evolution
Universities
Cambridge, England
Took his degree at Christ's College in 1831, intending to become a clergyman, and was recommended for the Beagle voyage by his botany professor.
Edinburgh, Scotland
Studied medicine from 1825 and abandoned it after two years, unable to bear watching surgery without anaesthetic.
Facts
- He spent much of his time at Cambridge collecting beetles, and once put one in his mouth because both hands were already full.
- He nearly missed the Beagle because the captain distrusted the shape of his nose, believing it indicated a lack of determination.
- He delayed publishing for two decades and only moved when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him a paper containing the same idea.
Photographs
Photographs come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences; the author and licence are shown on each image.